


Dreams and Deserters

by thegiftofnothing



Series: A Renegade Star [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Ateez cameo, Black Markets, Cargo job, Dodgy characters, Drug Addiction, I promise he is here, M/M, Mention of Dreams, Mercenaries, Small details matter, Space Mercenaries - Freeform, Taeyong just wants best for the crew, They are mercenaries so some stuff will be descriptive, Too many arguments, WAYV cameo, Wait for Jungwoo, X1 cameo, general warning, just late, long ass ride, nct 127, warnings before each chapter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2020-11-29 02:55:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 44,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20955569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegiftofnothing/pseuds/thegiftofnothing
Summary: Mark reached out to his old friend, Johnny, to shelter him and Donghyuck when they were cornered, hunted by their past. Joining the crew they have no time to adapt as Taeyong announces that they have a job - easy and simple from an anonymous commissioner. The job is too much, the crew is too much, the pressure is too much. Nothing is easy when no one is willing to say anything, let alone the truth.'A job like this?''They don't trust you''I've already asked too much of Taeyong''Found family''Taeil wouldn't.''Temporary''Welcome to the Cherrybomb'





	1. Wheat and Sunglasses

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome! This is a Space Mercenary fic part of a big universe! Everything is planned and set for weekly updates - every Wednesday! (Unless something serious happens). The chapters are somewhat lengthy but the more the better!!!
> 
> This is for my friend who wanted a fic like this!
> 
> Mainly surrounding NCT 127 but cameos from other units and groups. Please enjoy!

Mark was running on fumes. If it wasn’t for Donghyuck or the fact that his life was on the line he would have given up a long time ago. It was understandable given that he had just thrown his future down the drain. Yet despite all the terrible decisions that he couldn’t stop making, Donghyuck had become a constant point of support - his own personal sun.

If Donghyuck ever decided to leave, then Mark knew it would be all over for him. Who else would run away with him and put their trust in someone who Mark hadn’t seen in over 10 years?

Pushing his poorly dyed hair out of his eyes, Mark gazed at the never-ending dirt track in front of him. The sun was beating down on them as they trudged slowly forwards. His stiff leather boots hadn’t been broken in yet and were giving his feet hell as he was certain they were covered in bloody blisters. The dreams would have laughed at his current state - his uniform was a dirty, ripped mess, his hair closely resembling ramen than a proper cut. In fact, they wouldn’t have hesitated to mock him but they couldn’t, not now, they didn’t choose him.

What was the point of being the leader if your team didn’t follow you?

Next to him Donghyuck seemed to be handling the situation a lot better. Unlike Mark, he had ditched his military jacket instantly, commenting on how poorly designed it was anyway. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows as he didn’t shy away from the harsh atmosphere. His sun kissed skin seemed to glow underneath the sky as he seemingly thrived being outside. On the other hand, Mark was covered head to toe, sweat gluing the fabric to him as the little exposed skin was slowly being burnt.

‘What do we do if he doesn’t show?’ Donghyuck’s voice shattered the silence of the surrounding wheat fields.

‘Johnny - he’ll show,’ Mark firmly replied. After all Johnny had to show, Mark couldn’t handle anything else going wrong.

‘How can you sound so confident?’ Donghyuck further questioned without turning back as he marched on, ‘You haven’t seen this Johnny in what, 10 years?’

‘Over 10 actually.’

‘Oh, that’s much better then,’ sarcasm rolled off of Donghyuck’s tongue as the gap in between them grew as Mark slowed down.

‘Confident. I ‘m glad I seem that way - it seems to be the only thing I have left,’ Mark sighed as he attempted to ignore the agony in his feet.

‘No. You have me.’ Donghyuck turned, as if he was challenging Mark to respond.

‘ I have you,’ Mark repeated slowly, ‘So you finally admit it.’ His tone was light as he attempted to lighten the mood and perhaps make Donghyuck’s face as red as his own.

‘Shut up.’ Donghyuck whirled around striding on ahead, ‘Hurry up - we still have to see that this “Johnny” exists.’

Ignoring his taunt, Mark was just happy to still be with Donghyuck. Smiling to himself, Mark painfully jogged up to him closing the gap.

The sun seemed to mock Mark as endless wheat fields teased him in the arid atmosphere. The planet that Haechan had crashed them into was originally a desert with far and few settlements. Though luckily for them - the Imperials had seemingly committed a scientific miracle by turning it into a farming colony. It was such a successful colony that it became the bread basket for the Empire.

Renjun had gone on and on about how science was amazing for creating a unique genetic code of wheat that was able to survive such a harsh climate. Mark didn’t care much for science or its advancements if it wasn’t to do with him and his role in the military, even now he was just thankful that they hadn’t starved.

‘How are you holding up?’ Donghyuck genuinely asked, the concern apparent in his voice.

‘I‘m the one who should be asking you that after everything that I did.’

‘Stop being such a pussy. I was just wondering how a sheltered city boy like you were handling this heat.

‘We’ve spent what, five days here? And you’ve already reverted back to a farm boy.’

‘Of course! Not like I have any job prospects anymore,’ Mark knew it was meant light-heartedly but it mercilessly pulled him back into reality as guilt washed over him. If only he had forced Donghyuck to stay with the rest of them, then maybe he would have been happier and actually have a future.

‘You could go back - say I kidnapped you or something - ‘Mark began rambling, he knew there was no way Donghyuck could go back - the only way would be if Donghyuck turned him in.

‘Are you serious.’ Donghyuck said harshly, cutting through their peaceful surroundings as he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

‘Yes……...no……...maybe? I don’t know…. It’s just that I felt like I forced you.’

‘You may have been the leader but even you couldn’t have forced me to do anything - we both know that,’ he said as he inched towards Mark, ‘What happened...we did it together. Unlike them we weren’t spineless cowards satisfied with the fucking propaganda that they fed us. Unlike them, I ‘ll keep my promise to you to the end.’

‘Don’t say that,’ Mark mumbled eye to eye with Donghyuck.

‘Say what? That I‘ll keep my promise or that the Dreams are spineless cowards.’

‘Both. If it weren’t for me then you wouldn’t be here and nothing would have gone wrong.’

‘If it weren’t for you?!’ Donghyuck spat before dryly laughing, ‘Don’t be delusional. You - no, we were under orders and didn’t know. It’s not like we wanted to massa -’

A loud beep followed by ‘OI MARK’ cut off Donghyuck passionate rant much to Marks relief. He wasn’t ready to relive or even face his past actions. All his mistakes fed the guilt that lived inside of him that, in turn, stole his sleep. With the way that Donghyuck had looked at him in the recent mornings he must have known about the continuous nightmares and for once Mark was glad that he hadn’t confronted him about that.

Moving past him Mark approached the slowing vehicle. The vehicle itself looked like a piece of junk running on pure will power. In it were two men - one had light brown hair; eyes covered by thick sunglasses presumably sizing Mark up. The other - Johnny, Mark guessed by the way his grin hadn’t aged and due to the fact that he had only stopped shouting Marks name. Looking like he was on holiday, Johnny had a stylish black undercut paired with sunglasses like his friend but his ensemble was tragically ruined by a hideous, brightly coloured Hawaiian shirt.

Jumping out of the rotting vehicle, Johnny tacked Mark into a hug, ‘It’s been too long but what’s with the hair!’

‘It’s been rough but I ‘m glad you’re here, it seems things are looking up now.’ Johnny gave a loud laugh as Mark though he caught Donghyuck mutter ‘Don’t speak too soon.’ Seeing how Johnny hadn’t changed in all these years gave Mark some hope that he could move on and ignore his past.

‘Well you two look like shit - luckily we were nearby when I received the transmission and could pick you up. Get in and rest, we’ll talk more when Winwin gets us back home,’ Johnny smiled before carefully opening his door and gently getting in.

‘Is that even safe?’ Donghyuck approached Mark looking pointedly at the smoking engine.

‘It should be - the last time I saw Johnny he went off to be an engineer.’ Donghyuck only sighed in response, clearly not believing Mark or Johnny as he gingerly got in the car Mark following quickly in suit.

Once in, Mark looked over at Donghyuck who had already closed his eyes getting ready to sleep though Mark knew he would be a seconded away from acting if things did go south. Quietly yet triumphantly Mark muttered a ‘told you he existed’ before he too closed his eyes as Johnny sang along to the radio.

[****]

  
Marks head bounced off of the window startling himself awake as the car sputtered to a stop. Glancing over at Donghyuck he was happy that nothing had happened to him as he was just sleeping soundly, a talent that Mark didn’t possess.

Looking out of the window, Mark was annoyed to be still surrounded by wheat that had no end in sight. In front of him, the driver - Winwin? seemed to be more relaxed than when they had first met. He seemed to be humming along to Johnny who was still singing along to the old songs on the radio.

It was nice. It was as if he wasn’t running from his past and just enjoying a road trip. Johnny was singing along as if he had no care in the world. It was a trait Mark wished he possessed - this effortlessly chill, calm persona that Johnny had perfected. The singing stopped as Johnny caught Mark staring in the rear-view mirror. Clearing his throat, Johnny stated ‘Awake? You look like hell.’

‘Thanks, I try,’ Mark dryly retorted. It was strangely hard for the words to come out as Mark hadn’t fully realised how much like sandpaper his throat felt.

‘What happened?’ Johnny finally asked - Mark knew the question would have come up sooner or later. If he admitted to it then wouldn’t it make everything real? His hope and safety with Johnny would crumble as not even Johnny would want him. If ever did tell the whole, unfiltered truth how could he continue to protect Donghyuck.

‘That bad, huh?’ Johnny said, a softness to his voice as he switched off the radio.

‘I didn’t say anything.’

‘Mark - you look like you’re about to cry, that says enough,’ Johnny sighed, ‘I haven’t seen you look like that since … well, I just haven’t.’

‘It’s not like you were around.’ Mark was almost taken aback with how uncharacteristically he snapped. The heat, the stress was getting to him.

‘See? Whatever happened is affecting you. Look you don’t have to tell me now but you will have to tell the Captain sooner or later. No matter how painful it is - you’re family now.’

‘Geez, that was too cheesy, man.’ Mark broke into a smile. He knew Johnny meant what he said but how was he meant to respond? He trusted Johnny but the crew, the captain would be harder. He couldn’t put all his faith into family again, that would break him.

‘I mean it you brat,’ Johnny chucked his eyes flicking to Donghyuck as he added, ‘We’ll wait for your friend to wake up then we’ll head.’

Like magic, Donghyuck slowly opened his eyes stifling a yawn before squeezing out ‘Don’t need to.’

Getting out of the wreck-they-called-a-car Mark noticed a medium sized ship in a wheat field over. It wasn’t as big or impressive as the ones from the academy but still impressive. Next to him Donghyuck looked unimpressed whilst next to him Winwin looked indifferent, sunglasses firmly secured to his face.

The gangway was open leading into the belly of the ship and Mark thought he could make out a few figures waiting for them. It wasn’t the time to regret reaching out to Johnny as the older threw his arms around him and Donghyuck, not even caring when Donghyuck shrugged him off harshly. A proud smile stretched over his features as gazed upon his ship as they began to walk over to the ship Mark wondered if he would ever look at the ship the way Johnny had. As they walked closer Johnny said loudly,

‘Welcome to home. Welcome to the Cherrybomb.’

[****]

Mark and Donghyuck were seated with seven others in a meeting room that was clearly not meant to room 9 people. They were both sorely out of place with their dirty and grimy uniforms especially compared to the others clean and comfy clothing. The room itself was plunged into an awkward atmosphere the moment the crew had seen Mark and Donghyuck.

Facing them at the other end of the conference table was an intimidating figure. His deep red hair and stylishly slit eyebrow only added to the atmosphere as her carefully examined them. His presence alone was making Mark rethink being there; it wasn’t the academy, there were no simple, strict regulations to follow - mercenaries were a scary kind of unpredictable. The kind that Mark imagined would commit all sought of cruelties for money. Donghyuck on the other hand, met the man's eyes with a glare of his own. That glare, made Mark scared, it reminded him that he only knew a portion of Donghyuck and his experiences.

Next to the intimidating red head was a broad smiling, sandy blonde man clearly looking to break the atmosphere. ‘Why don’t we do introductions - you two first!’ he smiled expectantly at Mark waiting for him to speak.

‘I‘m Mark, I ,uh, use to know Johnny,’ Mark gulped as Johnny put a comforting hand on his shoulder, ‘ I grew up in the same neighbourhood as him and this is my friend Do-’

‘Haechan. Just Mark's Friend,’ Donghyuck said forcefully as he pointedly looked at Mark. Mark didn’t know where the name ‘Haechan’ came from but he wouldn’t out him in front of strangers.

‘Mark and Haechan, wonderful, welcome!’ the blonde smiled at them, ‘ I‘m Yuta - the second in command of the Cherrybomb. In charge of morale, organisation and general problems. You already know the mechanic Johnny and our wonderful navigator Winwin.’ Mark was surprised with the openness of Yuta, especially towards strangers; he was also impressed at how Winwin didn’t even react to Yuta’s obvious flirting.

‘To your right you’ll see Doyoung. He’s our pilot and don’t worry you haven’t done anything wrong, he’s just in a permanent bad mood. Next to him is the muscle - Jaehyun.’ Yuta vaguely waved to the right, where, sure enough, a cold looking black-haired man - Doyoung was judging them, looking extremely unhappy with the arrangement. Next to him was his stark opposite, an approachable looking man. Smiling with dimples, Jaehyun was either very good at ignoring Doyoung’s mood or oblivious to it.

‘On our other side is the medic - Taeil but he spends more time in the engine room than the sick bay, I wonder why,’ Yuta evil mused as Taeil gave a silent shout in protest whilst Johnny just chuckled.

‘It’s not my fault the Johnny gets injured the most,’ Taeil mumbled as his face went slowly red. His reply went unnoticed by Yuta who had elbowed the man next to him trying to get him to introduce himself. Though Mark wished that he hadn’t. The moment the man opened his mouth Mark knew he was the captain as he immediately grabbed everyone's attention.

‘Taeyong. Captain.’ His words were clear and efficient, ‘Cutting pleasantries short, we have a job. It’s simple cargo transport. Pick up and drop off. You two will have to get acquainted with the ship on the go - we won’t have time to baby you.’

‘You won’t need to,’ Haechan curtly replied, getting a small smile out of Yuta who seemed excited by the drama and tension.

‘Good. Let’s get ready for take-off.’

With that simple order everyone snapped into action, leaving the room with a purpose. Mark only hoped that Donghyuck and him would fit in without causing any problems.


	2. All wounds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey.....I said weekly every Wednesday right... Today is a Wednesday! So next week will be chapter 3. (This is because I updated on a Tuesday but said weekly Wednesday so by my own rules I had to publish today!)
> 
> Hope you enjoy this!!

Mark and Donghyuck were still sitting in the meeting room as everyone filtered out around them. Johnny had quietly assured Mark that he could find him in the engine if he had a problem. Donghyuck or as he was now known as ‘Haechan’ was picking at the silver trimmings of his trousers. It wasn’t like him to be so quiet after a meeting of any sought – usually coming away with at least one snarky comment. His silence only furthered Marks nerves; it was the calm before the storm.

Mark wasn’t sure what to do know, he had become accustomed to being in control of the situation, giving the orders. He didn’t like the lack of power or how he was always second guessing his self now.

A loud bang startle Mark making his thighs painfully hit the underside of the metal table. The sound was followed by a small chuckle from the man with dimples – Jaehyun?

‘Sorry, I couldn’t resist,’ Jaehyun said whilst standing, missing or ignoring Haechan’s ‘asshole’ he continued, ‘Yuta already threw a room together for you two. If you follow me, I’ll take you to it.’

‘Together?’ Haechan asked which offended Mark, as being together hadn’t ever bothered him before.

‘Oh, separate beds, don’t worry,’ Jaehyun grunted as he led them out of the room, ‘We don’t currently have enough rooms to give you each one but if Johnny decides to move into Taeil’s or permanently live in the engine room – you’ll be the first to know!’

Jaehyun lead them further into the ship and Mark had given up trying to memorise the route. The route was illuminated by amber as they went down a small stairwell. ‘The amber lighting,’ Mark started before changing his word choice, ‘Does the colour lighting have any significance?’

‘Glad you noticed! The lighting is something I came up with to track cycles better,’ the pride was apparent in Jaehyun’s voice, ‘ The lights mimic day and night to help us with structure. Red is alert and amber is warning.’

‘So amber now means ready for take-off?’ the whole system sounded very familiar to Mark but he left it at that; for now, it was just information to get better acquainted with the ship.

‘Exactly!’ Jaehyun said as he stopped in front of a door and pushed it open ‘your room.’

The room was anti-climatic as the room itself was bare besides basic necessities. Two single beds were lining the opposite ends of the room with a double chaired desk separating them. ON the other wall was a simple wardrobe with a door supposedly leading to the bathroom. The giant in-built projection that mimicked a window was just peaking out of real curtains that were drawn closed. It was very new and felt like the much-needed new start that Mark needed.

Haechan pushed past Jaehyun claiming the bed furthest away by kicking his boots off and sinking into the clean sheets. Mark simply stood in the middle of the room not sure what to do, he glanced at Jaehyun who was still propped against the door. ‘Umm, anything else we need to know?’ he quietly asked.

‘Yeah, fresh clothes and stuff are hanging up. You can take a shower as soon as we take off – so when the lights aren’t amber and …’ Jaehyun paused, eyeing up Mark as if he wanted to say something.

‘Thank you. Anything else?’

Jaehyun’s smile faltered slightly as he stared at Mark. ‘Yeah one more thing.’

‘Okay?’

‘That’s an imperial leader jacket – no? Were you-’

‘We stole it.’ Haechan’s loud voice cut in. Another lie that Mark had to keep up with.

‘So, you’re not imperial,’ Jaehyun said slowly.

‘That’s what I said,’ Haechan fired back, sounding more confrontational than Mark liked.

‘Impressive then,’ Jaehyun mused, ‘I’d love to hear the story of how you two stole a high ranking, formal uniform from the Imperials military but maybe after you’ve washed.’ With that the older smiled and shut the door. Mark knew he hadn’t believed them and if they were going to fool anyone they had to come up with a cohesive backstory – something believable.

Donghyuck remained lying down on his bed obviously thinking over something – either way Mark knew he shouldn’t interrupt him. Sitting on his own bed he removed his jacket. His hand wistfully tracing over the Dragon and Wolf insignia of Imperial before gently putting it to the side. Removing his own boots seemed more of a challenge. The leather slowly and painfully craped over his blisters; he’d need to disinfect them to prevent further harm but that was a future problem. For now, he just wanted to sleep. But even that seemed impossible. 

As soon as his head hit the pillow Donghyuck decided to pipe up, ‘I don’t trust him.’

‘Who?’

‘Jaehyun mainly, but also the others.’

‘Then what’s new? Not like they trust you either,’ Mark felt the air shift; he was to tired to deal with Donghyuck.

‘So? Jaehyun – he’s dodgy – using the Imperials lighting system, noticing the jackets? That’s strange.’ Donghyuck continued to conspire and Mark felt his patience thin.

‘Other companies, civilizations use the lighting system and I’d be surprised if he didn’t know about the uniform,’ Mark countered, logic always being his strong suit.

‘No – you don’t understand. I don’t trust -’

‘You can’t talk about trust.’ A soon as Mark said that he regretted it but he couldn’t seem to stop his feelings over flowing. He really needed to rest not argue.

‘What.’ Donghyuck’s covers rustled as Mark imagined he sat up ready for a verbal battle.

‘Ahhhh- Sorry. Should I call you Haechan from now on?’

‘You can’t be serious – it’s to stop them finding anything else about us,’ Donghyuck sighed.

‘How can you expect us to fit in if you just lie to them!’ Mark felt his anger rise as he sat up to face Donghyuck.

‘What – we just tell them that we were Imperial dogs!’

‘They already know my fucking name – it won’t be hard to figure out my past,’ Marks voice rose as everything came tumbling out.

‘Oh, Poor You. Maybe_ I_ don’t want them to know my _fucking_ name so they won’t find out about my own past even before that mistake of a school!’ Donghyuck yelled back, his fists tightly clenched by his side. Guilt washed over Mark, immediately dousing his own anger – how could he forget that?

‘I didn’t think, I’m sorry’ Mark began to mumble but Donghyuck was already on a roll as he took a few steps closer to Mark interrupting him.

‘Oh, but _don’t worry_,’ Donghyuck’s voice was thick with sarcasm, ‘Why would that matter – we’re just _friends._’ Mark knew he had messed up but couldn’t take that comment back. He promised to never look back. So, he convinced himself that he had said it for Donghyuck’s benefit, giving him a chance.

‘What,’ Mark spoke quietly, ‘What did you want me to say?’

The question its self was earnest but he couldn’t bring himself to look at Donghyuck.

‘I don’t know,’ Donghyuck admitted, his voice trembling slightly, ‘I thought – just everything we’d been through together and your confes-’

‘Forget about it.’ It broke Mark to say it but eventually Donghyuck would understand, right?

‘Forget?’ the word was slowly tasted by Donghyuck as Mark new it had hurt hum but hopefully not too deeply.

‘Yeah. We’re – I’m – I can’t handle any commitment or anything – especially not now. It’s for the best.’ Mark gulped. His throat was dry and strangely aching. It was as if his body was negatively reacting to the words he had just uttered. Lying back down he winced as Donghyuck bitterly laughed.

‘Sure. What ever you say Leader,’ The word leader was mockingly drawn out, Donghyuck knew Mark well, he knew what hurt. Mark refused to respond, it would be stupid for him to speak; he was afraid that if he did, he would retract all of his words and tell Donghyuck how much he meant to him. But he couldn’t, his confession had already dragged Donghyuck down with him. For now, Mark had to stick to his words.

Getting no response Donghyuck angrily announced his plans of showering before slamming the bathroom door, leaving mark alone for his thoughts to feast on him.

[***]

Taeil was, despite being occasionally tease, very comfortable with his small stature. Being this way came along with many perks such as being able to fit into small spaces like he was now. He had managed to crawl into a far cupboard in the storage room just off the sick bay. Counting the medical supplies was never a fun job especially when he was the only one doing it. He almost missed the days of working in a team back at the institute.

In a small crew such as the CherryBombs crew one couldn’t help but work alone. Everyone was key for a functioning ship as jobs rarely overlapped but that was the problem Taeil had. The better he was at his job the freer time he had. With his time, he just stuck to his number 1 patient – Johnny – and used him as an excuse to avoid menial tasks such as counting old vials. He would have managed to avoid it for longer if Yuta wasn’t so good at management and insisted he did a recount of his stock.

Pulling himself out of the cupboard Taeil sighed. Quickly writing down a number for the sedatives that seemed too few, Taeil dreaded having to praise Yuta for his oversight whilst asking for a restock. Standing up, Taeil felt his task grow in front of him – not only did he need a restock and reorganise his inventory but needed to replace the aging labels. If only two accident prone youths hadn’t just joined the crew then maybe Taeil would have been able to have given it another day.

‘Taeil … Taeil you there?’ Johnny’s voice caught his attention as the taller man was leaning against the door.

‘How’s my favourite patient?’ Taeil smiled, walking over to him (glad to be leaving his stock behind).

‘About that,’ Johnny guiltily said before walking over too and propping his self into a sick bed.

‘Again? Another burn?’ Taeil was always happy to see the taller man but it was worrying that Johnny was always burning his self, making Taeil constantly worried when he wasn’t in his sights. Getting a small bottle of ointment out, Taeil also grabbed some soothing cream and bandages before gently examining Johnny’s arm.

‘It’s not that bad,’ Johnny attempted to assure him.

‘I’ll decide that,’ Taeil muttered, his lips pressed into a thin line as he began working on the burn.

‘What?’ Johnny pressed, staring pointedly at Taeil.

‘Nothing.’

‘No – you’re making _that_ face.’

‘I’m not.’

‘You are. You’ve got something to say.’

‘Just,’ Taeil began to apply some soothing cream as he though carefully about his next words, ‘What if the next time you come here, I can’t help. You need to be more careful – I want to go see you, not the other way around.’ Taeil looked up to see Johnny smiling fondly at him before turning his attention to the bandages.

‘Thank you,’ Johnny said softly, ‘Not just for healing me but for everything. Thanks for worrying, for making me not feel lonely.’ Not knowing how to respond Taeil froze up – Johnny was always open and honest, they often talked about their feelings but him sounding so vulnerable was new. Leaning forward Johnny placed his head in the crook of Taeil’s neck, letting Taeil support him.

‘I should thank you,’ Taeil murmured adding on, ‘you were distracted, weren’t you?’

‘Yeah. Not only does the engine seem to be over heating but it needs new parts. That alone will drain all of our funds and I’ve already asked so much of Taeyong.’ Taeil knew Johnny was about to spiral; he often put up a laid-back charade but that came at the cost of internalising his emotions.

‘Hey, hey – look at me,’ Taeil said gently lifting up Johnny’s head from his shoulder and cradling his face, ‘Taeyong won’t mind – we’re family. Yuta will find away with the funds, he always does.’

‘I guess,’ Johnny admitted, leaning into Taeil’s hands.

‘And Mark will be fine.’ Taeil added causing Johnny to chuckle.

‘So, you knew.’

‘Of course – you’re practically brothers, right?’

‘We are!’

‘Whatever happened between those boys and Imperial – whatever they’re running from everyone here will help and protect them – even Doyoung,’ Taeil said, finally moving away from Johnny and putting his supplies away.

‘Nothing gets past you, does it?’ Johnny said before hopping off and making his way to the exist.

‘You wish,’ Taeil laughed, quickly adding ‘To your right.’

‘My right … ahh,’ Johnny grabbed a neatly folded Hawaiian shirt off of a cabinet, ‘Thanks but what’s the point of giving it back, it’ll only end up back on your floor.’ At that Taeil blushed, he could deal with needy and vulnerable Johnny but flirty, cheeky Johnny always caught him off guard.

‘Stop leaving it in my room,’ Taeil couldn’t even muster any bite behind his words, ‘Yuta is getting too suspicious every time your shirt is in my laundry – soon he won’t be joking.’

Johnny waved him off, ‘Yuta will know either way. See you tonight.’ With that he sauntered off, leaving Taeil a blushing mess behind.

After a few minuets of over dramatically fanning himself, Taeil managed to calm down. Humming, he began to reorganise the supplies in a much better mood than when he started.

[****]

Taeyong leaned back in his seat, gingerly placing his feet on his desk enjoying the quiet of his small office. With two new crew members Taeyong had a feeling that he wouldn’t get another moment like this. He’d been surprised when Johnny asked him about allowing Haechan and Mark into the crew – whilst he wasn’t opposed to new members, the lack of information on them was worrying. Nonetheless Taeyong had faith in Johnny so excepted his request but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do his own research.

Glancing down at his desk he eyed over a few loose documents that he’d eventually have to read. Picking up a calendar he read over some penned in dates, most were just birthdays or old job deadlines – all out of date due to the calendar being a gift a few years back. Taeyong wasn’t the sentimental type but this one annoyingly cute cat calendar was important in keeping him grounded. Afterall it was the last gift he received from him.

‘Captain – ‘Yuta barged in disrupting the serene atmosphere. Taeyong sighed, it was now a common occurrence; carefully putting the calendar down he rearranged himself into a proper sitting position.

‘If I told you to knock, would you?’ he mused to himself.

‘If I felt like it, sure,’ Yuta walked to the front of the desk brandishing a file, ‘I have the inventory.’

‘Let’s hear it then.’

‘Our food stock is good – even with the newbies. Taeil needs new medicine and thinks somethings up with the sedatives. Johnny needs new engine parts urgently and our funds are running low,’ despite the seemingly bad news coming from Yuta he still kept a bright smile.

‘So, it’s a disaster,’ Taeyong groaned.

‘That’s what I thought,’ Yuta’s voice sharpened, ‘but then I found something.’

‘Hmmm?’

‘Our funds were rock bottom but now we have more than enough, in terms of money.’

‘Your point being?’ Taeyong knew what game Yuta was playing at – hinting but not saying anything outright. But he simply no longer had the patience to play his guessing game.

‘Where did the money come from?’

‘The job.’

‘Then my second question – how could the down payment for a _simple cargo mission_ be so much. We haven’t even received the full payment yet,’ he placed the file down on Taeyong’s desk.

‘Rich clients – important cargo. Nothing dangerous, don’t worry.’ Taeyong tried to assure Yuta but the second in command wasn’t taking the bait.

‘I trust you,’ Yuta started, ‘but you also promised transparency with job details.’

‘Yuta I – ‘

‘For now, I’ll drop it.’

‘Thank you,’ Taeyong was happy that Yuta knew when to drop things; he was a good second in command, organised, alert and able to read the atmosphere.

‘Don’t look too relieved – I said for _now_,’ Yuta was back to smiling, ‘So now that money isn’t a problem, I suggest that we take a pit stop at X1’s market and gather supplies.’

‘Sounds good,’ Taeyong nodded, ‘Also check with Taeil about the sedatives – he might have miscounted.’

‘I doubt it – not even Johnny can distract Taeil enough for him to make a mistake.’

‘Just do it. If it isn’t a mistake then we’ll have to deal with that in due course,’ Taeyong felt another headache begin; not only did he have to deal with job details and the two new comers but also an unwelcome habit.

‘Don’t worry. It’s probably nothing,’ Yuta said, ‘Oh, and what about Mark and Haechan.’

‘Them?’ Taeyong thumbed through some papers on his desks as he tried to think about how to handle the newest editions, ‘Hmmm, have them do some small tasks for now. I’ll talk to Doyoung and Jaehyun about taking them on.'

‘Will do, Captain,’ Yuta said with a mock salute before turning to exit, ‘Oh, Taeyong, a word of advice.’

‘Yes?’

‘Calm down. Everything is in control. Nothing bad has happened on this ship,’ with that Yuta waltzed out of the office, looking extremely happy – probably going to bother Winwin.

Maybe Yuta wouldn’t have been so optimistic if he knew about what had happened before he joined. As the second in command, he probably had a right to know but Taeyong would have to talk to Johnny and Doyoung before revealing anything. 

There was no point in worrying about the past when Taeyong had two new problems to deal with. Picking up a pen he jotted down the two names – _Mark and Haechan_, before circling them several times.

‘Imperial boys. How annoying.’ He sighed out loud; Imperial was a sore spot for some of the crew, so Taeyong would have to do some of his own research to prevent any future problems. He had to protect his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tada! Thank you for reading this far. I do have a proof-reader but I think they want to remain anonymous :( Also they've been MIA for like a few days so I hope everything's alright! 
> 
> I've just started Uni and everything is overwhelming - very low lows but very high highs :(( Hopefully this will help me!
> 
> Please comment!!!! <3
> 
> Chapter 3 next week!!


	3. Babysitting and Worry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look! I actually made a deadline! Yay!  
I hope you enjoy chapter three - you get some one else's point of view :)
> 
> Warning : Implied drug use/dependence

Doyoung was gently floating, flying above all his problems. For him the world was slow, peaceful – much easier to handle than everyday life. The elixir that flowed through his veins kept all the bad at bay. Nothing terrible happened to him there. It was manageable – nothing felt too much.

Then slowly it wasn’t. Everything crashed around him as a loud beeping dragged him back. He opened his eyes, blinking in quick quickly, adjusting to the light. Looking around the room he tried to detect the beeping – it was his comms. Rolling on to his front he located the small device on his bedside table and flipped the switch allowing the call through.

‘I didn’t even think you’d ever pick up,’ Yuta’s annoying voice sounded too loud for Doyoung.

‘I wish I hadn’t.’

‘Aww, someone woke up grumpy,’ Yuta continued to tease Doyoung, in any other scenario he would have fired back instantly but he still felt slow, sleepy.

‘What do you want Yuta.’

‘First, you’ll be relieving my poor Winwin of pilot duty as you’re late for your shift,’ Doyoung squinted at the clock before letting out a quiet ‘fuck’ as Yuta continued, ‘Also you’re babysitting… the kid...Ahhhh – Haechan! Bye, have fun!’

Pushing himself up, Doyoung hated how everything seemed so loud. The ticking of the clock combined with the humming of the lights was torturing him. He gently thumbed over the marring of his veins, wishing to be drawn back into a slumber but sadly, he still had responsibilities to attend to. Pulling his shirt sleeve down he attempted to move away from the thought and get ready but it remained nagging at the back of his head.

Leaving his ‘safe space’, Doyoung made a quick beeline to the cockpit. Entering the room, he could see Winwin making some final checks as he looked over the control panel.

‘Hey – sorry for being late,’ Doyoung said coming up behind him.

‘As long as it’s not a common occurrence, then it’s fine,’ the other man said bluntly whilst removing his jacket from the chair. Doyoung always found it easy to talk to Winwin, he was blunt, open and didn’t make a habit of teasing him.

‘It won’t – don’t worry.’ As Winwin moved out of the way Doyoung sat down.

Stretching his arms out in front of him, he shook the sleep from them, ‘Anything new?’

‘No – it’s a set course for S4 101. You shouldn’t even need to lift a finger.’

‘Ahh. That’s good.’

‘I guess I’ll leave then,’ Winwin began to walk away as Doyoung turned his chair to face him.

‘Yuta’s on a break in the mess hall if you want to avoid him,’ Doyoung suggested.

‘Avoid him? Why would I do that?’ Winwin turned, facing Doyoung with a small smile on his lips.

‘He’s been coming onto you, strongly. You could technically sue him for harassment,’ Doyoung stated, curiously awaiting Winwin’s reply.

‘That’s harsh,’ Winwin let out an airy laugh, ‘It’s …. Endearing.’ Upon seeing Doyoung’s smile he turned away, shaking his head slightly he added, ‘I’ll leave you to it then – I’ll let the kid in.’

Shit – Doyoung almost forgot he was on babysitting duty. If only it wasn’t a set course then Doyoung could ignore him without feeling guilty. Maybe Doyoung could pretend to be doing something important?

He swung his chair round as Haechan entered, turning his attention to multiple buttons and the hyperdrive. Keeping his attention to the control board as his fingers ghosted over the buttons he said coldly, ‘Haechan sit to my right and don’t fiddle.’ Despite not getting a response he heard Haechan walk and sit down.

Doyoung knew he sounded harsh but he couldn’t trust the kid, especially if he was in Imperial uniform – well at least he was clean now. Imperial had ruined everything important to Doyoung; as far as he was concerned Haechan and Mark would have to commit a miracle to earn his trust. Pretending to push a few more buttons, Doyoung gingerly rested his hands on the wheel all without looking at the kid next to him.

Doyoung would have nearly forgotten about him if Haechan hadn’t spoken up. ‘The wheel is locked – you’re on a set course, aren’t you?’ the boy dryly said. Doyoung was both shocked an embarrassed, he hadn’t realised that Haechan might have known about piloting.

‘Don’t worry,’ Haechan quickly added, ‘You don’t need to bother speaking to me.’

‘It’s not that, I just – ’Doyoung slowly turned his chair to the side but still not looking at the younger – he wasn’t quite sure how to deal with people, that was someone else’s problem.

‘Don’t trust me? Don’t like me?’ Haechan sounded bitter and there was a strange rawness about his voice as he continued, ‘The feelings mutual.’

Doyoung slowly looked at Haechan – his eyes were slightly red. He’d been crying – that explained the rawness in his voice. Part of Doyoung wanted to turn around and ignore the emotional boy – he was Imperial after all but a larger, more compassionate side of him wanted to comfort him. If he comforted him then he could also find more out about his intentions without fully sacrificing his own integrity.

‘You had a fight with Mark,’ Doyoung attempted to question the younger but by the way Haechan immediately tensed up and averted his eyes, Doyoung knew that wasn’t the right way in. So, he tried again, ‘You look a lot better out of the uniform.’

‘Yeah, it was stiff as shit,’ Haechan curtly responded.

‘So, where you part of Imperials cadet program or something?’ Doyoung pushed, he knew he wouldn’t get a truthful answer but any answer would be revealing.

‘Ye- No, No. I stole it,’ Haechan recovered – Doyoung knew he was lying but let it go.

‘Next time I suggest you steal something more fashionable,’ Doyoung tried, humour wasn’t his forte; if only he was like Johnny or Jaehyun then it would be easier to get Haechan to open up.

‘Sure, _next time_,’ replied Haechan with a small smile, ‘So…. Does everyone hate Imperial here?’

Doyoung let a silent sigh out – of course this wasn’t going to be easy. If he wanted Haechan to open up then he too needed to reveal something – it was a trade. He only hoped his head was clear enough to make sure he didn’t reveal too much.

‘No, not everyone. But I guess you could say some of us aren’t exactly big fans.’

‘Well that seems common,’ muttered Haechan, ‘What’s your experience with them then?’ Doyoung had seen this coming but still wanted to dodge the question. He had to give a little to get a lot, he reminded himself, plus he could be really vague.

‘Uh… my family were closely linked with them,’ Doyoung hated how he sounded, Haechan wouldn’t leave it at that.

‘You have someone in Imperial or were you…’ Haechan trailed off.

‘Both.’ Doyoung took a deep breath, ‘I did a short stint in it and I guess it wasn’t for me so I left. I probably let a lot of people down.’ Doyoung let out a shallow laugh, he wanted Haechan to reveal his own past or say something – anything to distract Doyoung from his own past.

‘That’s it? I thought it be something else given your obvious hatred for them.’ Doyoung was impressed but hated how smart Haechan was; maybe Doyoung was the one opening up too much. He wasn’t in control of the conversation – he wasn’t even sure if he ever was.

‘No,’ Doyoung was going to regret this, ‘Back in CherryBombs earlier days we lost someone very important to us due to Imperial.’ Doyoung would defiantly need something stronger tonight.

‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ Haechan murmured in response. Doyoung couldn’t stop there, he needed something back.

‘What about your time in Imperial then?’ Doyoung pushed forward.

‘I’m not Imperial,’ Haechan’s eyes snapped up to meet Doyoung’s and Doyoung was almost taken aback from the hatred in the younger’s eyes.

‘Stolen uniform. I forgot,’ Doyoung paused, ‘Then what are you running from?’ It was a gamble and if that didn’t work then he’d give up and gladly except that he wasn’t a people’s person. Haechan’s eyes dropped to his hands as he fiddled with his shirt sleeve.

‘I don’t know,’ he admitted, ‘When I finally found family and an idea I could get behind, it all went to shit. Then when I thought I could put my trust in someone else that I thought could never betray me – he just tells me to forget everything that happened between us. Now it seems that I’m just all by myself and maybe that’s the only path for me.’

It might have been vague but it revealed a lot about Haechan and his insecurities. Doyoung felt bad for him, he almost reminded him of himself – he just hoped that Haechan for Haechan’s own sake didn’t turn out like him. He also made a mental note to ask Johnny about Mark, maybe he could give insight on what happened between the two newcomers.

‘I’m sorry,’ Doyoung began before being cut short.

‘Don’t be,’ Haechan said, ‘Thanks – it was nice talking but I feel really drained. Can I go?’

‘Sure, you know the way back to your room?’ Doyoung checked and added as Haechan began to move, ‘You can talk to me whenever – I’ll probably always be here – just so you’re not by yourself.’

‘Thank you… but I still don’t trust you!’ Haechan said siling as he reached the door.

‘Don’t worry – the feelings mutual!’ Doyoung shot back as Haechan left the room. Talking with Haechan was eye opening for Doyoung in multiply ways. ‘Idea’ – Haechan was defiantly pat of the Imperial cadets. Having made some headway with Haechan Doyoung felt good, little by little he would earn the youngers trust. Though for now he just wanted to go back to flying above his problems.

[****]

To him it was a small explosion – a mission complete. After a successful training round like this, especially when they had finally completed the last stage, they would celebrate. It would have been a small celebration, perhaps with snacks and drinks – a late night they would have all regretted in the morning.

Mark wished it was like that but the moment the explosion had happened it felt wrong but a success was a success, no matter the cost. So, Mark celebrated, not with everyone but with the one that mattered the most to him and he told him that. Mark wished he hadn’t, he wanted to take it all back.

Mark wanted to go back and change it all. He should have been the one to find out, not hear it from Jisung and Chenle. If only he knew and no one else, then nothing would have changed. He could have continued on a good leader or could have silently slipped away – not dragging anyone else with him.

His nights were filled with that insignificant explosion followed by ‘we killed them, all of them.’ How could something so small do so much harm? Yet Mark was constantly haunted by it, no longer was he the perfect leader that he use to be praised for.

Wrenching his eyes open he could still see the remains of the explosion dancing behind his eyelids accompanied by his heavy breathing. For the last week, before Mark had arrived on the Cherrybomb, Donghyuck had been there comforting him. Every night when he had awoken, scream stuck in his throat, Donghyuck was right by him pulling him closer – hugging him tightly as he sobbed.

Now Mark felt alone, he missed the closeness he use to have with Donghyuck but how could he complain? After all he was lying in a bed of his own making. Now Donghyuck felt too far away.

Mark turned his head gazing at the small, cocooned lump that was Donghyuck. The small movement and gentle breaths helped comfort Mark but he wanted nothing more than to pull him in closely.

Quickly throwing his duvet off of him he swung his bandaged feet over the side of the bed and slipped on his boots. Glancing over at Donghyuck, he knew that the other boy was also awake – he always was when Mark had nightmares. The distance remained between the boys as neither one made a move.

Stepping out into the corridor Mark didn’t know where to go. He could go to the cockpit and talk to a pilot – well talk to Winwin, Mark wasn’t sure if he could talk to Doyoung. Not wanting to risk running into the moodier pilot, Mark decided against it.

Maybe he could see Johnny? Mark hadn’t seen the older for around 10 years but he already felt indispensable. Johnny had clearly stated that Mark was family no matter what and that he should talk to him if he had any problems. So, Mark could go to his room or the engine room but if what Yuta said about Johnny and Taeil was true then Mark wouldn’t want to risk walking in on them …

Following the dark blue illuminated halls, the only sounds beside his indecisive thoughts was the rhythmic tapping of his boots meeting the metal floor. After a while of aimlessly wandering through corridors and the occasional stairwell he came across a door that looked familiar. Despite the lengthy walk Mark still needed to clear his head and what better place to do so than the mess hall?

Walking into the dark room, Mark groped at the wall until he found the light switch and flipped it on. With a loud humming the lights turned on accompanied with a questioning ‘Mark?’

[****]

‘Jaehyun?’ Mark looked shocked as Jaehyun grinned back at him. Jaehyun hadn’t expected anyone else to come into the mess hall especially late at night. The crew tended to avoid the hall at night due to the ghost stories Yuta spread about the communal space, even Doyoung who stated it was ‘stupid to believe in such things’ avoided the hall at night. Jaehyun didn’t complain. It was nice having a space where he could think and do what was needed of him uninterrupted.

‘Are you okay?’ Jaehyun questioned, hiding his own shock, ‘What are you doing up so late?’

‘I couldn’t sleep,’ Mark said sitting opposite him.

‘Nightmares?’ Jaehyun apologetically said, removing his hand from his pocket and placing it on the table.

‘Yeah,’ Marks head dropped, Jaehyun felt sorry for the boy – he looked like he had gone through too much for his age, ‘what are you doing sitting in the dark?’

‘Just thinking,’ Jaehyun knew he looked suspicious but that couldn’t be helped, ‘It’s nice here – quiet.’

‘Sorry – should I go?’ Mark sheepishly said.

‘No, no,’ Jaehyun quickly responded, Mark didn’t look like he should be left alone, ‘company is always nice too.’

An awkward silence filled the vacuum between the two, with neither have anything to say. Mark looked distracted as Jaehyun noticed he was fiddling. Taeyong wouldn’t be mad if he shared some information with him, right? He decided that the boy needed to be simultaneously distracted and comforted.

‘Do you want to look at some plans with me?’ Jaehyun asked.

‘Plans… plans of the mission?’ Mark slowly said, ‘Am I allowed to?’

‘Sure – you look like you’d know what to look for,’ Jaehyun smiled, attempting to assure the younger. Opening the folder on the table Jaehyun laid out some diagrams and information files.

‘Wow. You’re prepared,’ Jaehyun chuckled at how impressed Mark sounded, ‘I thought it was just a pit stop for supplies?’

‘It is, but black-markets aren’t always the safest,’ Jaehyun was happy that he could talk to someone, ‘It’s better to be prepared than caught out.’

‘Hmmm- this is the layout?’ Mark pulled a blue print closer to him.

‘It’s a black-market designed as a motel. It use to be run by an alliance group – Victon and Up10tion but recently went through some changes – absorbed by a bigger power.’

‘And this group, X1 took charge?’

‘Exactly,’ Jaehyun was impressed with how quickly Mark took in the information, ‘X1 still has some of the old members but the new ones seem quite smart – on paper anyway.’ He pushed some files towards Mark, ‘Members come from everywhere. Dongpyo is a politician’s son, Hangyul was ex-police force, they even have an ex-athlete, Yohan.’ Jaehyun watched Mark flip through the information, soaking it in whilst listening to Jaehyun.

‘It’s a mix,’ Mark remarked.

‘Yeah, they’re interesting.’

‘How have they avoided, Imperial, the law?

‘Well it’s on S4 101 – the motel is on the edge of the red-light district. So often goes unnoticed by the authorities who have bigger concerns.’

‘Oh – I thought it could be corruption and coercion.’

‘You’re quick,’ Jaehyun praised, ‘X1 have a deal with the authorities. Black mail or an actual deal.’

‘Blackmail,’ Mark replied bluntly.

‘And why do you say that?’ Jaehyun already new the theory but seeing Mark sound so confident was refreshing and made him curious in the extent of Marks ability.

‘As you said, Dongpyo’s dad is a politician in charge of the area I assume. So, either Dongpyo has something on him or he’s covering for his son.’

Jaehyun laughed, whilst it wasn’t correct it was close enough. Talking comfortably to someone reminded him of his past, when he and his friends would swap conspiracy theories or make plans. Jaehyun was also glad to see Mark had relaxed as he continued to talk through the information. It was nice talking strategy and trade ideas, Jaehyun found it somewhat tiring always being labelled as ‘the muscle’ and rarely anything else. Smiling he leant in and continued talking to Mark as they traded ideas throughout the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. 
> 
> I really appreciate the comment I've received - you know who you are! It really helps and makes me want to continue this no matter what!
> 
> Please comment - I'd really like it... See you next Wednesday!!!


	4. Talk and Motels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I made this deadline! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this and don't worry more Mark and Heachan next chapter!
> 
> Please enjoy ^^

‘They’re not talking,’ Johnny was pacing up and down in Taeyong’s small office. He was finally wearing something other than ugly Hawaiian shirts – a plain white shirt paired with black trousers. 

‘Why aren’t they talking – somethings happened and Mark hasn’t been talking to me,’ Johnny rambled. He thought Mark would have be more open with him now that they were back together. They were like brothers, weren’t they? Johnny had made sure to keep in contact with him, even when Mark was in Imperial, it was his promise to both of their parents.

‘So interesting,’ Doyoung dryly said taking a large sip of his coffee but Johnny wasn’t in the mood to respond to his snarky comments.

‘It’s worrying,’ Johnny stated, ‘In Marks letters he went on and on about who he loved and would do anything for that boy.’

‘You regularly wrote to him?’ Taeyong questioned, eye brow raised followed by Doyoung’s unhelpful ‘Are you serious?’

‘Like once a month – that’s not important.’

‘Oh, it’s important alright,’ Taeyong responded but Johnny had already begun awfulizing. He had promised to look out for Mark and he did. He sent letters every month and occasionally got a response, he kept some not so legal tabs on the younger – Johnny even provided a safe space for him on his ship. He knew he had left in undesirable circumstances but when it came down to it Johnny cared deeply – he was a family man!

‘I mean he never specified he was talking about Haechan. So, it’s possible Mark doesn’t actually like him but who else would follow someone with no future if they weren’t a thing!’

‘Taeil wouldn’t,’ Doyoung bluntly said.

‘What about Taeil?’ the Doctors name had immediately distracted the giant as he quickly moved to stand in front of the seated pilot.

‘I said, he wouldn’t follow you into a stup – ’Doyoung, upon looking at Johnny decided to not finish his sentence and continued with another, ‘ Well maybe Haechan’s a cover name? Or maybe just a close friend that Mark didn’t tell you about? Did Haechan’s name ever come up in those reports from your insiders?’

‘No – I don’t think so,’ Johnny tried to think back to the reports he was sent about Mark. His informer hadn’t mentioned Haechan, names like Jaemin, Jeno and maybe a Raj? But Johnny couldn’t think of a Haechan – maybe he was a late comer to the academy. After all Johnny had lost contact with his insider about a month before Mark contacted him.

‘Just ask him then.’

‘Marks not ready – I can’t force him – ‘

‘Not ready.’ Taeyong interrupted Johnny forcefully, ‘I don’t care if he’s not ready. I need to know about him and his ties to imperial. I’ve done enough by allowing him to come on to my ship, as per your request Johnny, but my patience is thinning very quickly.’

‘Taeyong, he will tell you, eventually,’ Johnny tried to reason. He knew where Taeyong was coming from, after all the last time imperial got involved, they all had lost something. Whilst Johnny knew that he could trust Mark and that he had no longer had loyalties to Imperial, he couldn’t vouch for Haechan and he couldn’t simply tell Taeyong to believe him. Taeyong was some that you had to outwardly prove your loyalties to, and as a Captain often had a good read on people.

‘Johnny we both know that eventually isn’t going to cut it,’ Taeyong sighed, placing his head into his hands, ‘I’m just tired and an don’t want another Hansol.’

Johnny stiffened at his name and heard Doyoung take sharp intake of breath. Hansol’s name alone froze the atmosphere in the room. There wouldn’t ever be another Hansol, Johnny would make sure of it. Taeyong had toughened up, did more background checks, he even had gone as far as having a trial period for new members. Doyoung had also changed after the incident, he became more cynical, less trustful, he kept to himself. Johnny felt as if he was the only one that hadn’t changed drastically, but maybe by not changing he was being left behind by the other two.

‘Let’s move on shall we,’ Doyoung said coldly, taking a sip from his coffee as Johnny began to re-centre his self.

‘X1 from S4 101 part of the 101 Black market traders,’ Taeyong stated, continuing through Doyoung’s ‘little fuckers’ ‘X1 seem to part of the growing network of the M organisation. The network itself has monopolised the 101-planet system but seemingly through point organisation.’

‘Meaning?’ Doyoung prodded.

‘Meaning that the groups like X1, WN1, IOI etc… aren’t actually connected. If one goes down it doesn’t affect the others.’

‘Interesting – but why do we need to know that,’ Johnny asked, it was always great to learn a bit more about the dark side of the universe but this seemed like a lot of information for a simple supply run.

‘It means several things – we have an exclusive yet fragile contract with X1 so don’t trade with the other groups at any time,’ Taeyong said looking at Johnny before flicking through some papers, ‘They’ve set up a meeting for me with information brokers so I can get what I need.’

‘On Mark and Haechan,’ Johnny checked, he wasn’t shocked about this he saw it coming.

‘Yes, on those two but please get at least Mark to speak to me. There is always a disconnect between fact and feeling,’ putting the papers down he handed a list to Doyoung who scanned it before giving it to Johnny, ‘That’s what we need and that’s the price I’m willing to pay.’

‘It’s more than I expected.’

‘That’s why our current job is more important. Moving on – there’ll be 3 pairs. Johnny you’ll be with Mark. Jaehyun with Taeil and Winwin with Haechan. Any questions?’

‘You’re sending out the newbies and Winwin?’ Doyoung seemed disappointed but Johnny was more concerned not for Mark or Haechan but for Taeil. He trusted Taeil so him being with Jaehyun wasn’t the problem but why would Taeyong send him out into such a dangerous environment. If they lost his – their doctor then the ship would barely get by.

‘Those two – they need to begin to prove themselves. This doesn’t only help prepare them for future jobs but also for me to see were their abilities are. Winwin is in the last stage of his contract – this is his last test before he’s a proper member.’

‘According to Yuta he’s already irreplaceable in the crew.’ Doyoung sniped continuing with, ‘For being your second in command he ought to know more.’

‘About the history or the contracts?’ Taeyong asked.

‘Both,’ Doyoung and Johnny replied simultaneously causing Taeyong to smile.

‘I’ll tell him after the run.’

‘Has Winwin confirmed with you about…’ Johnny asked, Winwin had become strangely important to the crew. He was quiet but vital. Not only was he an amazing navigator but coming from a racing background he was able to impressively pilot or drive a lot of different vehicles to near perfection. Although, he was most important due to his effect on Yuta; Yuta was the natural mood maker of the ship but with Winwin around Yuta seemed to be constantly in top shape, boosting the morale of the whole ship.

‘Verbally yes – I’ve talked to him and we’re certain about him joining.’

‘Can I be paired with Taeil?’ Johnny suddenly asked, even if he couldn’t actually go with Taeil he would hate himself for not asking, ‘And why is he even coming?’

‘He put a request in to come – for off the shelf medicine,’ Taeyong stifled a yawn, clearly tired especially of all the questions, ‘Talk to Jaehyun and shuffle the groups around as long as Mark and Haechan are with someone other than each other I’m fine with it. Be careful of Imperial activity or spies, rumour has it that they are cracking down on mercenaries and black markets alike. Just don’t let you and Taeil get in the way – I trust you to be aware and not distracted.’

At that Doyoung snickered at Johnny but the taller didn’t care – at least he was able to stretch his legs and not be cooped up in a ship. Standing, both Doyoung and Johnny went to leave, the convocation was clearly over between the three of them.

‘Doyoung,’ Taeyong called, ‘I need to talk to you about a problem.’ Leaving Doyoung behind, Johnny left Taeyong office heading straight to the gym where he assumed Jaehyun was. On the way to the muscle, Johnny began to think of the parts he needed before refocusing to the topic at hand: The Motel stop off.

[***]

Buzzing with excitement Taeil entered the seemingly dingy Motel with Johnny at his side. The Motel from the outside was unassuming with its neon blue and green sign and peeling pink walls. Taeil had at least spotted 3 to 4 blaring read signs that read ‘No Vacancies’ this X1 really didn’t want anyone coming here who wasn’t meant to.

Entering the building Taeil was surprised to find it was just set up as a normal motel reception, with ugly wallpaper and a wooden check in desk in front of a wall of keys. The whole front was completed with a bored teenager flicking through a magazine whilst widely yawning. He wasn’t in any sought of uniform just donning a t shirt and jeans which disappointed Taeil – some part of him wanted the teen to wear a uniform and complete the look of the motel. At least he had an ugly name tag that had neon pink writing saying ‘Welcome! I’m’ then written in thick red marker ‘Hyeongjun.’

Hyeongjun looked like a good kid – innocent to Taeil but there was a harshness in his eyes as he examined the group. Taeil knew that to be in a place like this that teen would have gone through a lot of shit, what’s worse is that to Taeil, Hyeongjun reminded him of Haechan.

‘Welcome,’ Hyeongjun said without looking up, ‘Name.’

‘Cherrybomb crew,’ Jaehyun took the lead as he stepped forward almost leaning on the counter. Hyeongjun signed as he reluctantly closed the magazine and typed into the computer Infront of him.

‘Six…big guy move,’ he said scanning the group, confirming all six members once Johnny stepped out to the side revealing Haechan and Winwin, ‘Six members.’ After confirming the number, the teen began to type something else into the somewhat old-fashioned computer he had in front of him. Once he had stopped typing, he turned around grabbing a key off of the display behind him. Sliding the key to Jaehyun he went back to flipping through his magazine bluntly saying, ‘Your room is to the right, enjoy your stay.’

Taking the key Jaehyun lead them out of the reception area and down the hall. Taeil’s nerves began to play up as he followed the group. He hadn’t been on a mission like this – or any mission at all. Even before joining the crew Taeil was in a lab, experimenting the whole time and didn’t really get out. He had put the request in to Taeyong to join the supply run on a whim, he wanted to get out of the sick bay and maybe get some products that no one necessarily needed to know about.

Reaching out he subtly grabbed onto Johnny’s hand as Jaehyun lead them through motels hallways. Johnny firmly gripped Taeil’s hand and began to rub circles on the back of his hand efficiently calming the Doctor down. Johnny’s presence alone was calming; he grounded Taeil easily, hugging all the worries way.

The group stopped in front of a door as Jaehyun unlocked the door Taeil quietly whispered, ‘Do you think they live here?’

‘Some of the keys had names on,’ Johnny had bent down slightly to whisper back.

‘He was just a kid – do you think they’re ok being here?’

‘That’s not our problem,’ Johnny said before straightening up and following the group into the small motel room. Taeil knew Johnny didn’t mean to sound as cold as he did but small phrases like that shocked him. Due to his own track record, Taeil shouldn’t be that shocked upon seeing and hearing things like that but when it came to seeing children or teens involved in illegal matters, he always felt guilty.

All six members of Cherrybomb where standing in the small motel room, crammed in between two small twin beds. Taeil wanted to ask about what would happen next but after looking at Jaehyun, Johnny and even Winwin he kept silent. All three looked like they knew what was happening, all looking at the closed bathroom door whereas Mark and Haechan (standing as far as way from each other as possible) where looking around impatiently. 

After a few awkward moments Taeil heard a shuffling from the bathroom accompanied with a shadow moving about from under the doorway. ‘Sorry for the wait – there was a customer issue,’ said a somewhat vacant looking man as the door swung open. Coming into the room the man did a swift bow before stepping out of the door way. All of his movements seemed very well practiced – almost mechanical.

‘Please enter this way,’ he said with another vacant smile as he pointed to the doorway into the bathroom next to him. Squeezing Johnny’s hand tighter, Taeil followed him into the small bathroom with the other man coming in behind him and closing the door.

There was a grimy sink, like one you’d expect in a motel in the red-light district but what you wouldn’t expect out of a dirty bathroom was as an old-fashioned elevator shaft behind the bath curtains. The curtains, a blue cartoon whale pattern, were pulled to the side to reveal the lift – one with diamond crossed gates and gentle jazz music playing. Jaehyun pulled the metal gate to the side and the rest of the group began to get in – the lift seeming to dip as all the members began to get in one by one.

Letting go of Taeil’s hand Johnny entered the lift, for a second Taeil thought that it would just fall and plummet to the ground but it held all the 5 members besides Taeil. Just as Taeil was about to enter the lift, the other man seemingly appeared in front of him firmly shutting the metal gate.

‘Limit is 5 persons,’ the man said as the gate locked in place.

‘I can get out and accompany Taeil – he is paired up with me after all,’ suggested Johnny as he attempted to open the gate. He rattled the gate, somewhat straining to open it but it didn’t budge.

‘Once the gate is closed it cannot be opened,’ informed the man, ‘I will guide Ta-e-il after you.’ Taeil outwardly cringed at the man’s attempt at his name, it sounded off, robotic almost.

‘Shit…you alright with that?’ Johnny questioned looking worriedly at him.

‘Yeah, yeah – it’s fine,’ lied Taeil. He didn’t want to be left all alone with a strange man that helped run a successful black market but he didn’t have any other choice and he didn’t want to worry Johnny. Taeil heard Johnny agree as the doors shut and the lift dropped at an alarming rate. The man was still in front of him being perfectly still.

‘Is the lift meant to drop that fast?’ Taeil questioned.

‘All mechanical features of the elevator are certified,’ was the mechanical response he got, which further unnerved him.

‘So, it’s safe?’

‘Yes, all functions of the elevator are safe yet efficient.’ The lift dinged signalling that it had reached the bottom as the button with a large triangle lit up. The man pressed it quickly as Taeil heard a slight grating of the lift coming back up to them.

‘So, how many lifts do you have?’

‘I am sorry. That is classified information.’

‘Oh,’ something was wrong with the man and his well-practiced responses. He looked only a few years younger than Taeil but was very formal and stiff as well as being very clean unlike the bathroom they waited in.

‘We have enough elevators to ensure a comfortable journey for all patrons,’ the man said whilst pressing his thumb onto the triangle button as the lift had arrived. There was a small flash of blue and then the man removed his finger and opened the grate.

Stepping to the side, he let Taeil enter first. Inside was plain green wall paper and a mirror reflecting the safety protocols that was opposite it. A single light bulb hung from the sealing that swung slightly as the man go in shutting the gate before pressing a button locking Taeil in the lift.

Turning to face Taeil, the man smiled as the elevator begun to drop. His name tag was designed the same way as the boy who was in the reception but his name read ‘W00se0k’ in mechanical lettering. Looking closer Taeil could see he had unnatural yet bright blue eyes and his skin seemed too smooth. On top of that Taeil swear he could hear a slight whirring like a computer when it read a disk or started up. Putting two and two together Taeil almost hit himself, disappointed with how long it had taken him.

‘W00se0k’ was a robot. In fact, if Taeil’s memory served him correctly he was an Imperial government issued helper. Back when Taeil worked in a lab they had robots to help them read and collect samples. He personally didn’t use them as he felt their humanoid structures were too creepy and he could do it easily without a robot. Though how did a group like X1 get a government robot?

Black markets seemed to be impressive to Taeil, if they manged to get high quality government properties then they would have an impressive stock of medicine and other chemical compounds. Though Taeil couldn’t remember what the W-00 stock of robots were exactly used for, he knew that the W, X, Y and Z line of robots were centred around entertainment but not much else.

The lift dinged and the doors, including the grate automatically opened, stepping to the side, the robot, W00se0k smiled and stepped out of Taeil’s way. Getting out, the loud chatter of the busy stall like market shocked him – he never expected the black market to be like an actual market. He heard the doors shut behind him as the lift began its ascent finally giving Taeil space away from the robot.

Taeil was annoyed he thought that the whole group would wait for him to get down before they all split up, maybe give one last run down on the situation. They didn’t – Johnny didn’t exactly wait outside the lift but he was just on the edge of the market. His back was turned to Taeil, probably talking to a stall owner about some product. Pulling a list out of his pocket Taeil began to walk toward Johnny a slight skip in his step.

Then something ugly grew with in him. Johnny’s shoulder shuddered as he laughed loudly. He was talking to someone who was around Taeil’s own height but had bright teal hair. Getting closer Taeil felt more and more jealous as the other man gently punched Johnny’s own arm softly. The two were getting closer and closer. He trusted Johnny but that was too close. Holding his head high Taeil marched over to Johnny, draping his self over Johnny’s arm, effectively blocking the other man, ‘Johnny,’ he said sweetly, ‘I thought I lost you -oh – who’s this? I’m Taeil.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> My proof-reader is M.I.A but I did my best! But don't kill me if there are mistakes!!!
> 
> Please comment!! And I'll see you next week!


	5. News and Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I wouldn't make that deadline!! but look at me I managed!
> 
> Well I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Warning - not graphic but some gore suggestions

‘They’re very organised – it’s like a proper market,’ Mark noted as he and Jaehyun walked through the crowded pathway. Mark would have never previously thought that he would end up in a black market buying engine parts. His role in the Imperial would have been to lead strategic space missions not to go undercover and bust illegal practices like X1.

‘Of course,’ Jaehyun answered, ‘It’s a basic black market – I wonder what the safety measures are though.’ Jaehyun walked confidently in front of Mark, seeming to be untouchable with his confidence. Weaving a path through mercenaries, pirates, mafia and corrupt officers, Jaehyun seemed to have a clear idea of where he was going.

Mark wished he could get his own confidence back; he once was able to walk through the academy’s halls with his head held high as people moved out of his way. Well besides Donghyuck – he would never walk out of Marks way but walk with him. He did now. Mark always caught him turning the other way on the Cherrybomb, actively avoiding him he even went as far as spending longer in the shower until he thought Mark was asleep.

Shaking his head quickly his thoughts moved on from the past and settled on his surroundings. There was a buzz in the atmosphere as Mark could hear both laughter and shouting. Managing to just avoid bumping into a fistfight he nearly walked into a stall. The stall was minimalistic, only having a few menus on the white clothed table. Behind was a tall man with a lab coat lazily thrown over his shoulders. He tapped numbers into an old-fashioned calculator before noting it down in a leather-bound book.

Curious, Mark reached for one of the four menus laid out, he assumed it was some illegal food being smuggled over the border. The menus were a sleek black leather with gold words engraved into them ‘Kard Menu’. It was very light, thin and out of date as it was a physical copy, despite not going out too many restaurants Mark new that everything had been digitalised by now.

Flipping the menu open, Mark almost gagged. On the first page body parts were listed with huge price points. The next page wasn’t better, bodily fluids were listed at even higher prices than the last. He should have just put the menu down; he wasn’t interested in illegal body part buying. It was just fundamentally wrong in all aspects. But he knew the man behind the stall was looking at him and Mark felt too awkward just to leave.

The last page was by far the worst. It listed all the organs and extras such as teeth and nails. Stuff like this was the reason why Mark never wanted to go into spy work for the Imperial as Imperial spies were notorious for having to put aside their own humanity.

Gently closing the menu and taking a deep breath he put it down only to be met with an expectant gaze. He wished he had stayed close to Jaehyun instead of getting distracted.

‘Interested?’ a rough voice said. Mark didn’t know how to reply. He could refuse the big, angry blonde but that could start a fight. Or he could pretend to be interested and dig himself into a deeper hole which would also eventually lead into a fight.

‘We can also do the whole body if you want? Or do you want our specials menu,’ the man continued to pitch a sale to Mark as if he was in a restaurant as he waved a smaller menu in front of Mark.

‘I’ll be fine, thank you,’ Mark squeaked out his response before immediately regretting it.

‘We also take different currencies like Credit, Plans or Draco. I can occasionally accept Pounds or Yamns but you don’t look from there – not to assume,’ the man continued sensing Marks hesitance but persisted in trying to make the sale, ‘Though you have to pay half before then after, if we don’t currently have it but upfront if we do - company policy.’ Mark didn’t know how he’d get out of the situation, if he had money on him, he’d by the cheapest thing just to end the interaction. Another sad reminder that he was technically on the run and penniless – not quite homeless though. 

‘Just browsing – we’ll be in touch though,’ Jaehyun smoothly came up behind Mark and slowly steered him away from the stall. Hands firmly placed on his shoulders, Jaehyun controlled Mark through the crowded alley and once far enough away from the stall Mark let himself relax.

Mark would be eternally grateful to Jaehyun, despite what Donghyuck had groundlessly claimed, the older had continually helped Mark throughout his first week on the ship. Of course, he wouldn’t immediately blindly trust him but slowly, Mark felt like he could. Jaehyun felt comfortable.

Through the packed walkways, Mark could see the black market was alive. Vendors easily robbed customers of their money, overpricing products or assuring them that they wouldn’t put the seller in trouble. Some buyers were smooth talking down the prices with coy grins. Everything was fast.

Jaehyun steered Mark into an alcove that revealed a small bar like area. Removing his hands from Marks shoulders Jaehyun walked past him getting a table. Following him, Mark sat next to him overly conscious of the other patrons. ‘Ignore them,’ Jaehyun said whilst raising his hand and signalling to the bar man for drinks, ‘You okay?’

‘Yeah, I just didn’t realise how fast paced everything was.’

‘Yeah – the documents don’t do this justice.’

‘It’s not as secretive as I thought it be,’ Mark admitted as two beers were set down in front of them, ‘Don’t we have to place orders?’

‘I already did whilst you were window shopping organs,’ Jaehyun smiled, taking a sip, ‘We can take a break now. I don’t feel like heading back to the ship so soon.’

‘But didn’t Taeyong order us to go straight back to the ship after business?’

‘A drink wouldn’t kill anyone,’ Jaehyun dismissed Marks worries and took another swig. Mark didn’t need to question the older; he had been on the ship longer than Mark, so he knew what they could and couldn’t do. 

Turning his attention away from Jaehyun he looked around the make shift bar. It kept in theme with the motel, with large neon signs decorating the walls. Usually cheesy quotes such as ‘Live, laugh, love,’ and ‘Less talk, more drink!’ would be the subject of the signs but here slightly more threatening slogans were shining in neon pink. ‘We don’t tell, you don’t talk,’ and ‘snitches don’t make it out,’ were cheerfully illuminated, lighting up the dingy bar. In a corner, directly in Marks line of sight was a traditional tv playing the news.

The news painfully attacked Mark; he hadn’t expected a black market pub to play Imperial news. Specifically, it was a traditional ceremony - they were handing out awards. Eyes glued to the screen; Mark took a large gulp of beer.

The rest of the dreams were standing in a line, smiles plastered onto their faces as large medals shined on their uniforms. Jeamin, Renjun, Chenle and Jisung all politely clapped as Jeno went to the microphone to make an acceptance speech. They all looked so fake; those polite, well distinguished Imperial soldiers weren’t the ones that Mark knew. ‘I’m the Captain of the Imperial special task force group D.R.3.A.M and we are honoured to receive this award so soon after our graduation,’ Jeno started, some people in the bar drunkenly booed him. Taking another gulp of his beer, Mark felt overwhelmingly bitter; he knew Jeno would always make a good leader and Mark had directly told him that. But Mark hadn’t expected them to replace him and move on so quickly. He had only been gone for barely a month and a small part hoped that he would be irreplaceable.

‘I am sad and ashamed to admit that there was an attempt sabotage on Imperial but my group, who is standing in front of you, easily adverted a would-be crisis but not without cost – the traitors did escape. Former leader and member of our own group, Mark Lee and Donghyuck Lee escaped after an attempt on the Royal Commander and Leader of Imperial,’ Marks grip on his beer tightened until his knuckles where white. He was now an official traitor – his picture, teasing him from the news would be branded across the Empire and Imperial. Those lies weren’t Jeno’s, probably written by Jaemin under guidance of the Superiors.

Glancing at Jaehyun, Mark saw the older’s expression quickly change from a cold, analytical look to a comforting smile. ‘Don’t worry – you can tell me when you’re ready. If you want, we can leave now?’ Jaehyun offered.

Mark took a deep breath and shook his head, ‘I want to see if they have anything else to say, it could be important.’ Jaehyun only took a swig of his beer and turned his attention back to the news in compliance to Marks request. 

Jeno only continued to explain Marks connection to their group, answering a few harshly worded questions. All of his response was well rehearsed, he had been perfectly schooled by the Superiors, always picking things up quickly. He denounced Donghyuck and Mark easily calling them cowards, traitors and murders; it’s like Jeno had conveniently forgotten that about two months ago he had confided in Mark, spilling all his secrets and worries.

‘So, what are you and your team going to do about them? It’s a threat to the Imperial having two traitors, two murders on the loose,’ one reporter questioned, it was likely a placed question that Jeno had a prepared answer to.

‘My team takes all responsibility of our fallen ex-comrades. We shall actively lead the hunt against them and figure out their motives and directives. We’ll either rehabilitate them or end them,’ Jeno paused before directly looking at the camera as if he was challenging Mark, ‘Our past with them no longer matters, if they remain a threat to Imperial, we shall annihilate them immediately. No Mercy.’

Mark wanted to laugh, to scream, to cry; he wanted to violently shake the Dreams and ask them what had gone wrong. Almost perfectly timed, as soon as Jeno had stated his ‘No Mercy’ gun shots fired loudly outside, followed by loud shouts and chaos.

Marks remaining beer smashed to the ground along with him as Jaehyun had pulled him down suddenly as the gun’s lasers whizzed over his head. ‘Fuck.’

***

‘I’m Taeil,’ Taeil had appeared from behind Johnny and draped himself over his side, effectively pushing Ten away from Johnny. Johnny didn’t know what to feel, should he be offended or flattered. It’s cute seeing that Taeil was jealous as that meant he really cared for Johnny but didn’t it also show a lack of trust?

Inwardly sighing, Johnny knew that this was one meeting that he never wanted to happen. Ten was a really sweet and caring person but he just wasn’t the most careful speaker, having a tendency to sometimes pour petrol on the fire.

‘Taeil?’ Ten looked at Taeil then Johnny before breaking out a big smile, ‘Oh, how nice to meet you, I’m Ten.’

‘A pleasure,’ Taeil replied with the fakest smile as his clutch on Johnny became tighter.

‘Ten and I use to work together – wow, that was ages ago, wasn’t it?’ Johnny laughed attempting to ease the tension. He knew that this was somewhat of a game to Ten but Taeil took things very seriously.

‘Oh, we worked together in many ways,’ Ten cheekily replied, Johnny knew that Ten wanted to under Taeil’s skin.

‘It’s always nice to meet Johnny’s _past_,’ Taeil pointedly said. Johnny stiffened, this was about to take a turn for the worst and he needed to do something to stop the toy shorter males from going at each other’s throats. Ten simply smiled in return before refocusing on Johnny, looking satisfied at the reaction he got out of Taeil.

‘So, Johnny, Taeil, what crew are you with?’

‘We’re with the Cherrybomb crew – you remember Taeyong?’ Johnny was thankful that the conversation was going in a different direction.

‘Taeyong, I remember him, still sad and single?’

‘Single yes. What about you?’

‘Me? You asking about my current crew or my relationship status,’ Ten teased.

‘Both,’ Johnny said as he gently disconnected Taeil from him as if the Doctor had stayed attached to him any longer, he might have lost an arm. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Taeil pout slightly in disappointment. 

‘I’m tragically single,’ Ten lamented before cheekily adding, ‘Unless you want to?’

‘Ten,’ Johnny warned. He didn’t mind the teasing but Ten was taking it too far.

‘Awww, you’re no fun, what happened to you?’ Ten whined, ‘Don’t worry, I’m currently setting my sights on someone else.’

‘From your crew?’

‘Yes – from WayV my current crew. Here.’ Ten held out a small business card, gesturing for Johnny to take.

‘We’re not looking for a new crew,’ Tail bluntly cut in, his arms crossed as he openly glared at Ten.

‘Cute,’ Ten said, ‘We might be recruiting but we already have a doctor and engineer. It’s for you, Johnny, for contact in the future.’

Hesitantly, Johnny took it as he felt Taeil radiate anger next to him. ‘I don’t believe I told you that. How did you know about Taeil? He is _My_ Doctor, so you’re correct,’ Johnny said as he pocketed the card.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Ten said before looking right behind Johnny and seemingly catching someone’s eye, ‘I feel that I’ve overstayed my welcome. Catch up soon Johnny!’

With that Ten bounced off in the direction of the elevators after giving a small salute to Johnny. It had been pleasant to see Ten, it made Johnny remember that his past wasn’t a complete disaster and that he still had some good times. Though for now the business card felt heavy in his pocket.

‘So,’ Taeil started and Johnny immediately steadied himself, getting ready for Taeil’s interrogation, ‘was Ten a past fling?’

‘Ten is nothing to worry about,’ Johnny smoothly answered, he just wanted Taeil to relax – it is never a good idea to be tense in a place like the black market they were standing in. 

‘I take that as a yes then,’ Taeil said as he began to walk into the market, ‘you keeping that card?’

‘It wouldn’t matter if I did,’ Johnny answered, easily keeping up with the doctor, ‘but I’ll throw it away – promise. The past can stay in the past, you don’t have to be jealous.’

Taeil stopped suddenly, almost causing Johnny to collide with the Doctor. Turning around Taeil muttered a small ‘I wasn’t jealous,’ as his face got redder. Johnny chuckled to himself, Taeil’s anger often didn’t last as he was a very reasonable person. He was logical and easy to get on with but Johnny also felt like Taeil was his soulmate. He would have told the Doctor this but wanted to avoid chasing him off by being too cheesy.

‘You were jealous, it was cute,’ Johnny cooed, having fun with how red Taeil’s face was.

‘Fine – I was, just a bit,’ Taeil said reaching out and connecting their fingers, ‘I just want you to be mine. No one else. Meaning I can’t lose to anyone, especially not your past.’ Johnny smiled widely; it wasn’t a classic ‘I love you’ confession but it still warmed his heart. Even Johnny had fears about how serious their relationship was and he had a few doubts that maybe Taeil didn’t like him as much as he liked Taeil.

In that moment he would have pulled Taeil close and kissed him but they weren’t in the right place for that. Just as Johnny was about to reply to Taeil chaos broke out. There was shouting, people running in all directions – stampeding the tight allies. There was a loud gun shot as Taeil’s fingers slipped from Johnny’s. Panic filled him as the chaos separated him from his doctor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this chapter!
> 
> WayV's Moonwalk is a bop - I love it soooo much
> 
> Also my proof reader and friend is still M.I.A :( I hope nothing is too wrong. 
> 
> Anyone please comment! It means a lot!


	6. For the Win

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooops. I'm late, very late with this update! I'm sorry! I promise to go back to the regular Wednesday updates!
> 
> As a sorry I'll try and update a chapter before next Wednesday and on that Wednesday!
> 
> Please forgive me and enjoy!!!
> 
> Warning : some description of gore, not too much tho.

Winwin was breathing heavily. He wasn’t equipped for fighting – he was a pilot and barely that. He was hired help, just in it for the money, not for the fighting. Taeyong had stated in his contract that he would solely do transport and missions that did not involve confrontation of any kind. But now he was stuck under a random booths table as lasers flew over his head. His hands were shaking as every loud noise near him caused him to jump. ‘Shit, shit, shit.’ He repeated over and over, between each heavy breath. 

Haechan was missing. Winwin had been put in charge of keeping him close and safe but as soon as he turned his back to talk to a stranger the kid had disappeared. But for now, he couldn’t worry about the younger, he had to make it back alive first. 

There was a cacophony of sound that suffocated him. Screams, yelling, shots and begging filled the air. From his hiding place Winwin could see people running past him and he knew that sooner or later that he’d have to find a way out. He didn’t want to die alone. Hell, he didn’t even want to be alone now. As soon as he had lost Haechan he did try to find him but consequently lost the nice strangers who gave him a peculiar business card. 

Less people were running past his space and the shoes had become less varied all morphing into black combat boots. His breath hitched and his throat felt as if it was slowly closing as a few stopped directly in front of him, they had dropped their guns to their sides as Winwin could see the nozzle of the guns. Would it be painful to be shot? If it was fatal then probably not but if he was left to bleed out – he had to stop. He couldn’t think himself into despair. Taking deep breaths, he attempted to make his breathing regular again. If no one else was around then he’d have to help himself as usual. 

Focusing on the sounds he begun to eaves drop on the small group in front of him. 

‘Search thoroughly – we can’t miss them.’

‘You mean the traitors – are they even here to begin with?’

‘They were reported to have boarded the Cherrybomb ship and it was reported that said crew were landing here.’

‘but-‘ 

‘No buts. If we don’t find them then this is simply reported as a successful raid.’

‘I understand.’

‘Make sure to look under the booths as well. Now off you go.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Followed by a stamp, which Winwin assumed was the lackey doing a salute before running off. If they started checking under tables then Winwin needed to escape as soon as possible. He assumed that the lifts would be flooded by the group – most likely Imperial if they were conducting a raid. But lucky for him, there were probably secret entrances and exits for the group running the blackmarket and they would probably be around the edge of the market. The problem was that he was in the middle of the market.

Arranging himself into a crouching position he got a small knife out of his boot. He might have not been equipped to fight but he did have some tricks up his sleeve especially when he didn’t panic. The knife was meant to be used purely for defence or intimidation but now it looked like Winwin would have to actually use it. Clutching it tightly, he moved away from the side of the soldier. 

If he stayed low enough and, in the shadows, there would be less of a chance of the soldier noticing him. Though he’d have to hope that no one was on the other side of the stall. The chaos sounded far, most likely down by the elevators as people would want to escape. 

Creeping forward he ducked under the back side of the stall into another. There were two soldiers just in front of the table. If Winwin was quick and silent enough he could probably take out both of them without alerting anyone else. Well, if he was in a movie, he could probably do that but sadly he only had basic defence skills and the knife was only for the last option. For now, he’d try and escape without any blood loss and make it back to the ship safely.

So Winwin began to crawl down the row of stalls, through the tunnel that the tables had made. Some stalls had boxes under the tables and it wasn’t that hard to move them. Until it was. 

He had made it decently close to the other end of the space but in his way were large, cold metal boxes. Quickly, he attempted to move one of the boxes to the side but it made a loud scraping sound joined by something hitting the walls of the box. Winwin immediately halted his action as he heard some soldiers coming closer. They didn’t move away. 

Winwin could see their feet inches away from his face. They had guns. Guns that would kill him instantly. This was just meant to be a job, something to fund him enough so he could return to the spotlight. He didn’t want to die. The panic was getting harder and harder to push down but Winwin had to keep moving. So, he tried to slowly move the box to the side, hoping the scraping sound didn’t alert the raiders. 

He was too focused on moving the box. It was almost fully moved to the side; Winwin was so close to continuing on with his escape. He felt his heart hammer in his chest as something was off. Then he felt it. A cold metal against his cheek, sending shivers down his spine. 

‘Out. Now.’ Harsh words ordered him away from his hiding place. To avoid death, he’d have to comply. This was just an Imperial raid, right? Well with the secret mission of finding the crew he was a part of and killing them? Maybe he could pass as not being part of the Cherrybomb. Slowly he crawled out. 

His hands were shaking as he slipped the knife back into his boots. He was now on his knees in front of two soldiers in the middle of a booth. He kept his head down and hand near his knife. If he seemed passive and if they didn’t recognise him, then maybe he could escape without spilling blood. Though he would fight if he had to. The two soldiers still had their guns pointed at him as they looked down. 

‘Aww~ look at the rat we caught,’ one mocked, clearly proud at his catch. 

‘Let’s round him up or shoot him,’ the other one curtly replied, sounding like he wanted to move on quickly, ‘the more we catch the more we earn.’

‘Fine but-’ the easier going one squatted down in front of Winwin, putting his gun to the side, ‘look how pretty he is.’ Winwin slightly unsheathed his knife, ready to attack as his head was forcibly moved upwards to stare at the soldier. The soldiers gloved hands grabbing his chin, moving his head side to side. 

‘Doesn’t matter, go through procedure and then let’s go,’ the harsher soldier was beginning to sound impatient. 

‘Stop being dull Kim, look at this face – do you think I can claim this as a reward?’ Winwin’s hands shook more as his breath quickened. He never had strong feelings about Imperial but shouldn’t they have upstanding morals or some shit like that? They weren’t meant to own other humans. 

‘Probably. Name? What are you doing here? What crew?’ The impatient one turned his attention to Winwin as Winwin felt eyes stare him down from behind the void that were the black goggles. 

Taking a breath in, he tried to think of something realistic and less incriminating to say. ‘S-s-sicheng,’ he stuttered out, ‘I’m a courier – just hired today for-‘Winwin looked round at the booth, by him was a menu, ‘ for Kard.’

‘Hired today?’ Winwin nodded his head quickly, maybe they would buy it and leave him alone, ‘terrible luck. You can have him – he’s not on the list.’ Winwin could imagine the sadistic smile of the eager soldier as he let go of Winwin’s head and stood up. He wasn’t going to be a reward. He drew his knife. But before he could attack, one of the soldiers started to fire at something in the tent.

Yuta, who was meant to be safe and, on the ship, had jumped out behind the stern soldier placing a gun to the back of the soldier’s head and pulling the trigger. Blood, brain and shards of skull flew everywhere as the charge from the gun entered the soldiers head. Winwin felt blood splatter across his face and tried not to grimace or throw up. 

‘Shit – fuck – KIM’ shouted the other soldier in horror, who now had his gun levied at Yuta who was grinning, gun dangling in his hand. 

‘My love, what are you doing on your knees, in front of another man? I’m hurt,’ Yuta quipped at Winwin in his usual fashion. Winwin had to remind himself not to smile as a reaction, he didn’t care for what Yuta had said but he was somewhat thankful that Yuta had come. It made escape more possible, plus Yuta was always a nice view. 

‘You’re…. you’re him…’ the soldier stuttered, still in shock at his dead companion, ‘You’re that fucker from that damn crew!’ 

Before the soldier could pull his trigger, Winwin reacted. He hated killing but he hated his crew dying more. Jumping onto his feet he stabbed the knife into the soldier’s neck, pulling him back as the soldier pulled the trigger. Ripping his knife across the neck, Winwin could hear the soldier gurgle, gasping for breath as blood dripped from the wound covering the knife and his hand. Removing the knife and pushing the soldier’s body away from him, he watched it slump to the ground. Killing was too easy – it felt disgusting but easy. 

Winwin tore his eyes from the dead body to look at Yuta, ‘You’re not hurt?’

‘No, I’m not,’ Yuta said taking a step closer to Winwin, smiling broadly at him, not phased by the fact that he had just killed someone, ‘Thanks for caring.’

‘You’re meant to be on the ship,’ Winwin knew he sounded ungrateful, especially as Yuta had just intervened on his behalf.

‘Oh,’ Yuta paused, before shaking his head, ‘We can discuss that in great detail, alone, on the ship but let’s get out of the line of fire.’

‘The exit?’ Winwin wanted to feel safe, and in control again.

‘Of course, my darling, Mark and Jaehyun are fighting by the bar. They looked quite betrayed when I ran past them to find you, but what did they expect,’ Yuta chuckled as a crouched down, finding a reason to hold Winwin’s hand as he pulled him down too, ‘so let’s pick them up then get to the exit, okay?’

‘Okay,’ Winwin replied as Yuta turned away and began to lead him. Winwin slowly relaxed, despite the chaos surrounding them. Even with the screams and gunshots filling the air, Winwin felt invincible holding Yuta’s hand. As they made it through more booths, Winwin whispered a small ‘Thank you,’ which he hoped Yuta heard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit shorter than planned and a sorry for any mistakes! 
> 
> Please comment! It's really good motivation to read comments and that's what I need now! Please?


	7. Following and Confronting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... I'm late... oops. As it's Christmas though I should upload more regularly... well more than in the past!  
And I promise to move on from the black market after this!
> 
> Enjoy! and comment down below! :)

Donghyuck was certain that he saw them. He was just going to check and would make it back to Winwin before the older noticed he was gone. The stranger with the weird business cards should be able to keep his attention long enough for Donghyuck to get back and keep him out of trouble. They already ordered what they needed to for the ship and were on their way back to the exit when he saw them. Two blond heads, looking too out of place for a black market. 

The dreams were here and Donghyuck wanted to know why. Had they also decided to escape from Imperial? That would have been a strange change of heart especially considering what they did to him and Mark. But if they had escaped and needed help then would he help them? Mark would, but then again Mark made a lot of decisions Donghyuck hated. The dreams had betrayed them, so what would stop them from continually betraying them given the chance?

Ducking through the crowds, Donghyuck followed them in the opposite direction of the exit, further into the mass of people and stalls. The two blondes, the unconfirmed dreams, didn’t stop to look around, it seemed as if they had a destination in mind. Following them through the crowd wasn’t too hard, there a lot of people providing good cover. 

That being said, Donghyuck mentally kicked himself as he pushed himself into a group crowding around a stall. Of course, the dreams would check if they were being followed, he would, and they had trained together. Donghyuck didn’t know why they were there so it would be stupid to reveal himself too soon. Though at least he new for certain now that they were Jeno and Jaemin, now he just needed to know what they were doing. 

Slipping out from the crowd he looked around. He couldn’t have lost them that quickly. Following the flow of the people forward, he would have to be careful but efficient in finding them. But it would be hard to find two blonds in all black clothing, no matter how awkward they looked as nearly everyone was in black with coloured hair. He needed to find them; something was wrong. Either they were running from Imperial or part of them. 

Donghyuck was growing visibly annoyed by the time he reached the end of the stalls. He’d have to turn back and find Winwin. There was no way he could have been unnoticed for that long and he couldn’t risk getting lost from the crew. It was already hard enough to know where he stood with the Cherrybomb crew, everyone was nice and welcoming to an extent but it was clear that no one trusted him. Mark had already pushed Donghyuck away, so now everything felt real. He was truly alone again. 

Thinking about Mark, to Donghyuck’s right he was drinking in a makeshift bar with Jaehyun, so much for getting the job done and returning promptly. Mark was watching what Donghyuck assumed was a t.v. and looked annoyed, his hand clenching around the beer. He wanted to approach his friend and ask if he was aright but they weren’t alright, not anymore. He should probably inform both of them about his sighting of Jeno and Jaemin, they probably were there on behalf of Imperial. Who was Donghyuck kidding – why would they have run away from such a profitable career? 

As if the world was testing him, Donghyuck caught sight of his two ex- teammates going the opposite way of the bar, skirting around the back of the market. It was either telling Mark or following them. He no longer needed to report to Mark, he justified to himself as he began to refollow the two Dreams. They were acting differently from before, no longer looking like they had to get somewhere but surveying the entirety of the market. They were up to something. 

He slowly walked towards them, hoping not to tip them off. Though hoping wasn’t enough as he caught Jaemin’s eye. As if Jaemin was Medusa, Donghyuck was paralysed watching the other deeply breath in then sigh, as he smiled in his direction. Jaemin elbowed Jeno, getting his attention before doing a small wave. Donghyuck waved back, they had both betrayed each other and had all reason to hate each other yet here they stood, waving like fools. The waving turned into beckoning as the two Dreams tuned away and started walking. It was too late for Donghyuck to grab Mark, so what ever was going to happen he’d just have to deal with it on his own. 

Not wanting to lose sight of them again, Donghyuck hurriedly followed them. Either he was going to help them or get captured; if he did get captured would the Cherry bomb even attempt to get him back? 

It was a lot easier to follow them when he didn’t have to hide or fight through a crowd. After a few minutes they stopped and Jaemin turned around looking back at him. Infront of him Jeno was focusing on opening a door whilst Jaemin stared at Donghyuck, pointing at him with a hard to read smile. Once Donghyuck had gotten close enough to them, the two Dreams slipped through the door leaving Donghyuck with a dilemma. 

Standing in front of the door Donghyuck knew it was stupid to go into a place with his ‘enemies’ and with no witnesses but that didn’t stop him from reaching for the handle. Sneaking around, gathering and analysing information was more of his style but lately he had just been running into situations and thinking after. This time wouldn’t be any different as he pushed the door open and slipped in. 

As soon as he was in, he was immediately shoved into the door, helping it to close faster with a loud bang.

‘So, you were here after all,’ Jaemin mused, standing to the side of Jeno in what seemed to be a landing for a stairwell, ‘and you followed us. I honestly didn’t think you were that stupid.’

‘Aww thanks – it’s a new tactic I learnt from you,’ Donghyuck replied back, his words sounding more pathetic than mocking. 

‘Where did your good comebacks go? Is it still with your owner?’ Jaemin continued to tease, ‘I though you’d stay with Mark forever ~. That’s why you left after all.’

‘I don’t give shit what he does. Still have your toy boy wrapped around your finger?’ Donghyuck snapped back. 

‘There he is!’ Jaemin clapped like an excited child, something was off, ‘And for your information Jeno is your new Captain. Respect him.’

‘Fuck you. I’m not part of the team anymore.’

‘You sure about that?’ Jaemin smiled. 

‘Why are you even here,’ Donghyuck changed the subject, he wasn’t going to relive the past. 

‘Here to catch some traitors, haven’t you watched the news?’ only Jaemin was speaking, Jeno remained silent only glaring at Donghyuck. 

‘What, I’m a traitor now? Imperial is the fucking traitor – even after all they’ve done, you’re still siding with them.’

‘You believe those lies that Mark told you?’

‘Mark didn’t say shit and you know that. It was Chenle and Jisung who found out.’

‘Oh, so Mark didn’t tell you?’

‘Tell me what?’

‘That he planted the information for Chenle and Jisung to find and fed them lies.’

‘That’s not true,’ Mark wouldn’t lie to him, would he? Well, back then he wouldn’t. What had the Imperial told the others. 

‘Of course, it is. After everything the Imperial has done for you, they gave you a family, a home – and now you’re too blindly in love, following a traitor, a liar. You’ll come back thought, I just know it.’ 

‘You know nothing,’ Donghyuck growled back, he knew it was Jaemin’s tactic to wind him up and it was working, ‘If you’re a team, then where are the others?’

‘Chenle and Jisung? They’re being specially coached by Gongmyung and will be joining us soon, we’re honoured to have such an amazing, accomplished person helping us.’ 

‘And Renjun?’

‘Who?’ Jaemin looked confused like he didn’t know who Renjun was. It was strange, out of the whole group Renjun, Jaemin and Jeno had been friends for the longest. Now thinking about it, it was strange to see just Jaemin and Jeno together, often they would be with Renjun or have small reminders of him. Maybe Jaemin was just messing with him.

‘Renjun? Was on our team before everything, was friends with you two even before the team was formed?’

‘The name doesn’t ring a bell. Renjun, huh?’ Jaemin had his arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed, it was like he had actually forgotten about Renjun.

‘You can’t be serious. It’s Renjun – impossible to forget- ‘ 

‘Shut up,’ interrupting him mid-sentence Jeno pinned him against the door, a knife drawn to his neck, ‘He’s just trying to confuse you – ignore him.’ Jaemin just hummed in response taking a step closer. Donghyuck gulped, he was never comfortable with have knives close to him, close fighting wasn’t his speciality. Though it gave him a closer look at Jeno’s wrist which was surprisingly empty. He expected the bracelet that symbolised the seven of them to be gone but his wrists were bear – no Renjun friendship bracelet in sight. It was like he had been erased from the two Dreams memories. 

‘Now, traitor come with us quietly and you won’t be hurt,’ Jeno said really giving Donghyuck any space for an appropriate response. So Donghyuck didn’t give one, he answered the best way he could.

‘Go fuck yourself.’

‘You-‘Jeno has raised his fist and Donghyuck shut his eyes, anticipating a punch or for his throat to be slit but neither happened. Instead a slow clap echoed about the stairwell. 

Cracking his eyes open he saw Taeyong slowly walking down the stair clapping and inwardly Donghyuck wished Jeno had cut his throat. 

‘Now that’s entertainment,’ Taeyong said as he stepped onto the landing, ‘Really, have any of you thought about becoming actors?’

‘Who are you?’ Jaemin replied, his own gun trained on Taeyong. 

‘Me? You don’t know who I am?’ Taeyong seemed unimpressed at the two Dreams. 

He had managed to distract the two enough for Donghyuck to shove Jeno away from him and somehow manage to stand next to Taeyong. 

‘He’s my Captain,’ Donghyuck said triumphantly, for now he’d put up the act that he followed Taeyong as he still didn’t trust the older. Taeyong gave him a raised eyebrow but didn’t say anything, only moving in front of him, shielding him from the two Dreams. 

‘Your Captain?’ Jeno repeated, recovering from Donghyuck’s shove.

‘Taeyong – the Cherrybomb’s Captain,’ Jaemin filled in the blanks for Jeno before turning to Donghyuck, ‘Now running with mercenaries?’

‘Moving on,’ Taeyong intercepted the question, ‘I’m sorry but you can’t take him.’

‘What are you going to do if we try?’ Jeno questioned, stepping forward his knife out and ready.

‘I’m not going to do anything but you might be late for your own little quest,’ as if predicting it, Jaemin’s watch beeped loudly with only Taeyong smiling in response.

‘Next time them,’ Jaemin said, putting a hand on Jeno’s arm seeming to communicate something to him as Jeno lowered his knife. As they walked through the door, Jaemin turned and whilst smiling directly at Donghyuck said, ‘I’ll see you soon Donghyuck.’ 

  
Even after the two left, Donghyuck was on high alert as Taeyong turned to face him. He looked like a disappointed parent the way he crossed his arms and scowled at him. Donghyuck didn’t think he’d be gone from Winwin’s side for this long and now he was getting them both in trouble. 

‘Weren’t you meant to be with Winwin, Donghyuck,’ Donghyuck flinched at the use of his name, there was no point hiding anything from the Captain now. 

‘I saw those two,’ he started, nodding his head in the direction that the two Dreams had just left in, ‘and thought they were up to something so I followed.’

‘And Winwin?’

‘He had just finished the order and was talking to another crew. I wasn’t going to be gone for that long and would have returned as soon as-‘

‘As soon as what? You followed two Imperial high-ranking officers and expected what?’

‘I don’t know, I’m sorry,’ Donghyuck felt awful. He didn’t care that what he’d done was wrong, he was upset that he was caught. How didn’t he know that Taeyong was there – since when was he there?

‘You had one instruction and that was to stay with Winwin at all times. I allowed you into my crew, show some basic respect and follow my orders,’ Taeyong sighed loudly. 

‘I know and I’m sor-‘

‘You don’t sound sorry,’ Taeyong snapped, ‘Do you think I have rules and give orders just to benefit myself?’

‘Well – I don’t know…’ 

‘They’re there to help you and protect you. Black markets are dangerous to begin with and then you decide to go off with some Imperials? What am I meant to think about that? How can I trust you?’

‘I’m sorry,’ Donghyuck said defeatedly, for some reason he didn’t like Taeyong telling him off. At the academy he didn’t care when an instructor shouted at him but having Taeyong scold him with so much care felt strange. Why did Taeyong care about his safety, they didn’t even properly know each other.

‘Just go back to the ship, straight to the ship. I’m going to round up the others,’ Taeyong said, staring at Donghyuck for confirmation. Instead of sounding like a broken record, he simply nodded and started up the stairs which he assumed lead to the motel front. 

Half the way up he heard the banging of the door shutting accompanied by other crashing sounds. Instead of turning around and letting his curiosity get the better of him, Donghyuck kept heading straight up, keeping his promise to Taeyong. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for all the delays, it's been really hard lately and I've lost a lot of motivation but hopefully I'm back now! Thank you for reading please leave a comment or kudos!!!


	8. Playing Doctor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this?? Another update so soon!! Look at me!!! 
> 
> This should be interesting…. don't worry more action happens next chapter!!
> 
> And thank you to everyone who commented!! It really helped boost my motivation and look new chapter!

‘Well, that was a shit show.’ 

The sentence punctuated the tension; most of the crew had been gathered in the meeting room. Jaehyun stood, leaning against the wall closer to the exit, Taeyong was right the Blackmarket mission had been a mess. At the other end of the room Taeyong stood, arms crossed at the head of the table. He let his statement hang in the air as he glared at everyone in the room. 

‘Anyone care to tell me how any of that happened,’ Taeyong eyes were dark with fury and even Jaehyun felt intimidated by the other man. He much preferred it when the other wasn’t angry, in fact it was the first time Jaehyun had seen their leader in such a state.

At first no one replied to him; Winwin and Yuta sat next to each other, they were covered in blood making it hard to see if they had any injuries. Haechan and Mark were sitting opposite each other, both attempting to subtly check the other for injuries when they thought the other weren’t looking. Jaehyun knew that Mark only had a few bruises and scrapes but was shocked to see that Haechan was fully unscathed, especially when Winwin looked so roughed up. Johnny looked equally as terrible; he had some cuts but nothing too life threatening but he had his head buried in his hands; when Taeyong had managed to find them all in the market Johnny was in a frenzy, crying and sobbing as a limp Taeil hung in his arms. 

‘There was a raid, probably by Imperial. It wasn’t a thing any of us could have prevented,’ Jaehyun forced out, no-one else looked like they were in a state to be interrogated by Taeyong, even Jaehyun thought it was unreasonable for Taeyong to force them all into the meeting room as soon as they entered the ship. 

‘Correct Jaehyun! There was a raid but we could have prevented it. What was my key instruction to all of you?’ Taeyong hadn’t shouted yet but Jaehyun could see his anger rising, it wasn’t like Doyoung getting angry which was funny and cute, Taeyong getting angry was slow and calculated – it was dangerous. 

‘To stay with our partner and go straight back to the ship,’ Haechan mumbled out, looking strangely guilty.

‘Straight back to the ship! Something which none of you did and now we have our Doctor bleeding out in the sick bay,’ Taeyong slammed down on the table, ‘The fucking doctor is injured! The doctor!’

Johnny let out a loud sob in response. As soon as they got on the ship, they had been greeted by Doyoung who was instructed to take Taeil to the sick bay and ‘do something’ much to Johnny’s dismay. 

‘That wasn’t your fault Johnny, you did your best,’ Yuta said attempting to comfort Johnny. 

‘And how would you know Yuta?’ Taeyong questioned, leaning closer to his second, ‘You weren’t even meant to be there – why the fuck where you there! As my second you’re meant to be an example – so, I ask again, why the fuck did you ignore me and enter the market.’

‘I’m—I went ‘cause I thought that you’d need help,’ Yuta answered in an uncharacteristically small voice. Jaehyun knew that wasn’t fully true, Yuta had gone to help Winwin, everyone on the ship knew about his infatuation for the pilot. 

‘I’ll deal with you later Yuta,’ Taeyong had picked up on Yuta’s true motivation as he stood back up and crossed his arms as he focused in on a new target, ‘Haechan, I know you’re new but to blatantly disrespect this crew like that.’

‘Taeyong,’ Winwin interrupted, ‘It was my fault, I was meant to keep and eye on him and failed. I’m sorry he was my responsibility.’ 

‘Thank you Winwin, but it’s not your fault – you were the least problematic of the day,’ Taeyong forced a smile before turning and meeting Jaehyun’s eyes. Jaehyun straightened up, wincing as he moved his arm. In the heat of the raid, Jaehyun had fully zoned in managing to off a few soldiers but in turn he got hit. It wasn’t as serious as Taeil’s injury so he hadn’t spoken up and no one had noticed so far. The black clothing was a big help in hiding the wound in his arm, that he was certain hadn’t stopped bleeding yet. Subtly he moved his hand up to the bullet wound in his bicep and tried not to grimace as he applied pressure to it. 

‘Jaehyun, Mark,’ Taeyong directed his attention them, Jaehyun made sure to send a small smile to Mark, hopefully he wasn’t too rattled by the interrogation. Jaehyun liked the kid; he reacted interestingly to the news on the T.V. - Mark and Haechan had been very select with the information that they had shared, which only made them more interesting to unravel. 

‘I expected a lot more out of you Jaehyun but you weren’t a complete idiot out there. I want a report before dawn on that whole situation with a full analysis. I want to know what the fuck happened,’ Taeyong said running his hand through his hair, sighing before his eyes narrowed in on Jaehyun again, ‘Are you injured?’

‘Just a bullet, nothing too deadly so it wasn’t urgent,’ Jaehyun replied honestly, in his prereferral vision he saw Mark slump most likely feeling guilty. 

‘We’re done here then,’ Taeyong slumped into his chair, ‘Everyone get cleaned up. Jaehyun get Doyoung to fix you and I call you all individually later. Now go.’

*****

Jaehyun stood in the doorway of the infirmary just watching Doyoung insert a drip into Taeil. Despite being here for almost a whole season Jaehyun wasn’t close to Doyoung. He had managed to become friends with almost everyone, even Winwin who half the time didn’t even like speaking. Doyoung was different, he kept his distance and seemed to be annoyed at everything Jaehyun did. Jaehyun wanted to find away to break his image of being ‘the muscle’ that Doyoung seemed to confine him to. 

Knocking gently on the door frame, Jaehyun alerted Doyoung to his presence. Though the other man barely looked up, still focusing on securing the needle in Taeil’s arm before covering it with some tape to keep it in place. 

‘You’re the new Doctor?’ Jaehyun tried to joke but only received a glare from the dark-haired individual. 

‘That’s an inappropriate joke,’ Doyoung replied as he shoved the tape into a draw, ‘I’m just playing doctor, I have no idea if what I did actually worked.’

‘I’m sure everything is good – he looks better,’ Jaehyun said as he walked in and sat on the other bed, waiting for Doyoung to turn his attention to him. 

‘And what would you know about any of this, you’re just the muscle,’ Doyoung gestured to the sleeping Taeil, ‘What are you even doing here?’

‘Care to play doctor again?’ Jaehyun said as he gestured to the bullet would.

Doyoung sighed, ‘Just you?’

‘Disappointed? I can ask the others...’

‘No – you’re perfect!’ Doyoung interrupted him as walked over to Jaehyun, ‘I honestly don’t know how Taeil deals with this, it’s stressful. Do you even know what happened?’

‘An Imperial raid.’

‘Bastards.’ There was flash of anger across Doyoung’s face before he redirected his attention off of Imperial, ‘What wound?’

‘Bullet.’

‘Did it come out’

‘Nope, still in there.’

‘I need a clearer look – can you take your shirt off.’

‘My whole shirt?’

‘Yes – is there a problem?’

‘Just I didn’t think you’d be this forward,’ Jaehyun chuckled, it was an attempt to lighten the mood and was worth it as he saw Doyoung’s face redden. 

‘Stop messing around,’ Doyoung managed to stutter out, adverting his gaze when Jaehyun pulled his shirt over his head. The dull throbbing of his wound seemed to inflame the moment he lifted it, Jaehyun paused for a second and after taking a deep breath he yanked the shirt fully off. He felt the material come unstuck from the injury. It felt like he was tearing a layer of skin off, but at least it was off now.

‘Shit,’ Doyoung breathed out. Jaehyun wanted to make a joke out of that, maybe tease him for being in awe of his muscles but he couldn’t. Doyoung wasn’t looking at his muscles, he was looking at his scars. Jaehyun didn’t mind, he was very confident about his body – he was a weapon, his body simply echoed that through years of training. 

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare,’ Doyoung said moving closer in with alcohol wipes to look at the wound.

‘I don’t mind,’ Jaehyun flinched as the wipes pressed closer to the wound and Doyoung pulled back, going to a draw and searching in it. 

‘So, it’s true then,’ Doyoung pulled out a long tweezer looking devise, Jaehyun should have been use to people pulling bullets out of him but it was always an uneasy thing putting your life in the hands of someone else. 

‘What’s true?’

‘Your backstory – I saw the documents Taeyong had on you but I didn’t believe them,’ Doyoung walked over with the tweezers and a hand towel, ‘I’m going to pull the bullet out.’

‘Anything to make me feel less?’

‘Do you need any?’

‘No.’

‘Why don’t you tell me about your past then – to distract you,’ Doyoung lined the tweezers up with the wound and Jaehyun looked away. He wasn’t that squeamish, but he didn’t want to put the extra pressure on Doyoung by staring too intensely. 

‘I tell you then you tell me?’ a burning pain shot up through his arm as Doyoung began trying to extract the bullet.

‘Fine.’

‘I’ve done a lot of fighting in my past, a lot of to the death,’ Jaehyun admitted, trying his best to ignore the immense pain searing through his body. 

  
‘Yeah – part of an illegal fighting ring to support your family. Hold still,’ Doyoung seemed like he knew more about ‘Jaehyun’ than Jaehyun did. He felt the tweezers in his arm slowly pull out, and after a life time of pain they were out followed by the clang of metal hitting metal, ‘It’s out.’

‘Sure, for my family,’ Jaehyun said feeling blood trickle out of the wound before Doyoung pressed the towel against it. 

‘You sound so unsure, miss them? Here, hold this,’ Doyoung moved away once Jaehyun took hold of the towel continuing to press it against the aching wound. 

‘Why didn’t you believe it?’ Jaehyun watched Doyoung pull out some ointments and bandages before walking back over. Taeil was still peacefully sleeping, though he almost looked like a cartoon of a mummy with all the bandages he was wrapped in, hopefully he’d pull through. 

‘It just sounded too good. This day and age no one does anything for someone else without wanting something out of it, then you came along with this morally perfect story. It seemed too good.’ 

Doyoung gently dabbed ointment on the wound soothing it before putting another, thicker liquid on top. The thicker liquid had similar consistency to glue and Jaehyun watched as Doyoung stuck his wound back together, not the most doctorly move but better than having a hole in his arm. 

‘Too good? I’ve killed people.’

‘So have I, and I didn’t do it for family. I didn’t want to believe that some like you could have existed.’

‘Like me?’

‘Don’t make me spell it out,’ Doyoung warned as he began wrapping the wound in bandages, ‘Anyway, those scares prove that you weren’t lying, either that or you’re a spy.’

Jaehyun forced out a laugh; it was nice hearing Doyoung describe him as it was a step up from the berating he use to receive. Doyoung finished wrapping his arm up with a nice knot and stepped back, looking proudly at his work. 

  
‘For someone who’s ‘playing doctor’ you did a good job,’ Jaehyun complimented, moving the conversation away from himself.

‘Thanks, but only time will tell,’ Doyoung worriedly glanced at Taeil.

‘Hey, sit here,’ Jaehyun patted the bed next to him, ‘you promised to tell me about you.’ 

Doyoung looked at Jaehyun, he looked nervous – as if he wanted to be somewhere else. Jaehyun wanted to break through to him, everyone else was nice but Doyoung was interesting. He was like a puzzle box and Jaehyun wanted to crack the code. 

‘You’re not going to put a shirt on?’ Doyoung gave in, sitting next to Jaehyun somehow feeling smaller now he wasn’t directly staring at Jaehyun. His intimidating aura somewhat dissipated. 

‘Don’t sound so hopeful,’ Jaehyun chuckled, ‘I have spares in my room, that are clean so I will once you open up – for now you can enjoy the sight.’

‘You’re sounding more and more like Yuta,’ Doyoung groaned.

‘You’re stalling – you’re past isn’t that bad is it?’ Jaehyun questioned, what was so awful about Doyoung’s past? The other male actually looked like he was going to tell the truth unlike Jaehyun. 

‘I use to be with Imperial.’ The fuck. Jaehyun masked his shock very quickly, that’s why he looked somewhat familiar as that person. Did they know when they had sent him there? 

‘Ahhh, really?’ Jaehyun hoped Doyoung hadn’t noticed his temporary shock but he hadn’t, Doyoung was sitting, slumped, staring at his hands that were now free of the medical gloves. 

‘Yeah. What’s worse is that my brother is General Kim, GongMyung Kim,’ Doyoung seemed broken admitting it but this just made Jaehyun’s life a lot harder. Why hadn’t they told him?

‘The General – he’s famous in Imperial and that means you were the pilot prodigy younger brother,’ despite wanting to be subtle, Jaehyun might have been too shocked and let the words tumble out of his mouth. He wanted to slowly break down Doyoung’s barriers not have his own crumble. 

‘Yeah,’ Doyoung admitted bitterly, ‘You know a lot for an illegal fighter.’

‘Rumours, I guess.’

‘Of course, it was fucking rumours,’ he groaned, ‘I left. Some say a betrayed my family, I like to think I found a new one without sacrificing my freedom.’ 

Jaehyun had nothing to say. He had to go over this information and plan the best course of action. He never planned on having Doyoung getting so personal so soon, Jaehyun just wanted to slowly chip away at his grumpy persona. Though, worryingly the more Doyoung revealed, the more Jaehyun wanted to know, the more he wanted to comfort and protect the other. These were dangerous emotions. 

‘Sorry. Why don’t you go and put a shirt on before you catch a cold,’ Doyoung spoke, probably noticing Jaehyun’s hesitation. 

‘Yeah,’ Jaehyun said jumping off of the bed and grabbing his shirt as he walked towards the exit, he didn’t know where he stood with Doyoung anymore. They had gone too deep. 

Before he had reached the door Doyoung had one last thing to say, ‘Thank you. It was nice talking to you like this, maybe we can again sometime?’ 

Jaehyun wanted to turn back and embrace him for some strange reason, Doyoung sounded so vulnerable. Some part of Jaehyun wished that he had never prodded Doyoung to reveal a new side of himself, it would have made everything a lot easier if Doyoung had only remained cynical and grumpy towards Jaehyun. 

He wanted to stop this here and now before things got too complicated. Jaehyun wasn’t perfect, he was a liar. 

Despite all of this he replied with ‘Of course, you can talk to me anytime.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading?? What do you think of Jaehyun or in fact Doyoung?? :))
> 
> Please leave a comment with anything! It really does help. 
> 
> Have a Merry Christmas/ a nice winter break!! And see you before the new year!!


	9. Hurt and Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit slow but it'll defiantly pick up in the next one! I promise!
> 
> Sorry about the updates, I'm doing my best to get back on track but a lot of things are happening all at once. 
> 
> Next chapter will go back to Haechan and Mark and will be more action centred! But for now, thank you for reading this!!

_It was chaos. He felt Johnny’s hand slip through his and terror engulfed him. You’d think a black market would be more prepared for a raid but it wasn’t. As soon as he lost sight of Johnny, everything went wrong for Taeil. He was a doctor not a fighter. The panicking crowd easily swept him away towards the lifts. _

_He had to keep on his feet or he’d be trampled. People around him tripped, and their screams were heart wrenching as they were flattened. He wanted to turn back and help, the doctor in him was screaming for him to. But he had to survive, he couldn’t stop for anyone else. He had to be selfish again. _

_He saw the clash with the raiders coming. They were standing at the lifts, waiting. Batons and guns raised. The screams became deafening when the two sides met, Taeil wanted to rip his ears off. The fear had already over taken him. His hands were shaking. He wanted Johnny. He didn’t know what to do._

_The first bullet pierced through his thigh. It was hot, burning. Taeil was crying, loudly sobbing but the wound wouldn’t be enough to knock him over just yet. The adrenaline pushed him on._

_He turned with the crowd as the mass tried to run away from the raiders. Taeil hadn’t seen who these raiders were but he already feared them. They had turned most of the black market goers who probably were all hardened criminals to turn into a frenzied crowd. _

_Another bullet grazed his side. It had gone through the man next to him, causing him to knock into Taeil. As soon as Taeil hit the ground he knew he wouldn’t be able to get back up. Instead of attempting to move he curled up into a ball, hands protecting the back of his head. _

_It was painful. He was kicked and stepped on. People tripped on him, bringing them down to a similar fate. He would need a miracle to get out of this situation and survive. His fading to black wasn’t peaceful, he didn’t slowly start to float. It was fear inducing. He felt as if the darkness, as if his unconsciousness was smothering him as he finally succumbed to it. _  
****  
‘Johnny you should go.’

Johnny hadn’t changed out of his clothes from the mission, he had come in straight after Jaehyun had left and just sat down staring at Taeil, not saying a word. Doyoung felt bad for his friend, he seemed completely hopeless. His eyes were red and his face still had specks of blood covering it, he wasn’t the Johnny that Doyoung had known. This Johnny seemed hopeless. 

‘He’s going to be alright, why don’t you go and rest – I can take care of him,’ Doyoung stepped closer to him but Johnny refused to answer leaving Doyoung stumped on what to do next. Doyoung just wanted to walk out of this scenario – take the easy route out but he couldn’t abandon his friend in his moment of despair. Johnny had always been there for him and Doyoung owed him. 

Dragging another chair up, Doyoung sat in it next to Johnny in silence. Taeil was still unconscious but at least he was breathing, once he woke up Doyoung knew he would immediately treat himself and then everyone else. Johnny was clutching Taeil’s hand, looking like he’d never let go. Doyoung was jealous. The two seemed perfect for each other, even with the dynamics in the ship the two felt right. Previously Johnny had been with Ten, when the crew had barely started, that romance was fast and dangerous – it had seemed like neither party was ever satisfied. A relationship like that never seemed desirable for Doyoung but now he was jealous. He wanted someone to care about him like how Johnny cared for Taeil, Doyoung didn’t even need a romantic partner just someone to unashamedly be open and honest to. 

‘Johnny, this isn’t good. Please speak to me,’ Doyoung rested his hand on Johnny’s arm. 

‘I’m sorry it just hurts, it hurts so much,’ Johnny’s voice was small, raw.

‘What hurts?’ Doyoung knew how to get rid of pain temporary but Johnny didn’t deserve to go down the route he had. 

‘Everything.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘He’s my other half Doyoung! I … I can’t lose him,’ Johnny lowered his head to his and Taeil’s intertwined hand. 

‘You won’t, I promise.’

‘Don’t make promise’s like that. You know you can’t keep them – no one ever could.’

‘Hansol?’

‘Yeah, Hansol.’ Johnny lifted his head and stared directly at Doyoung. Hansol had become somewhat of a taboo topic for them. He was a tragic reminder of what a disaster this life could be. 

‘Taeil isn’t your fault just how Hansol wasn’t any of ours. This just happens in our line of work and if we had to blame anyone it would be Imperial.’

‘Why does Imperial have to fuck everything good up?’

‘It’s their job.’

‘Was it yours?’

Doyoung took a deep breath, he’d really need to relax after all of this, ‘Maybe – I don’t know. Why don’t you take a shower and I’ll look after Taeil?’ 

‘I don’t want to leave him – Doyoung I-‘

‘Johnny you have to take care of yourself.’

‘I’m fine,’ Johnny’s voice was raised, his temper and desperation seemed to mix, Doyoung didn’t have the patience to deal with him acting petulant. 

‘You’re not. Don’t make me get Taeyong.’

‘You wouldn’t, please just let me stay please,’ Johnny’s hands were shaking slightly but Doyoung had to be stern, at this rate Johnny would either collapse or despair himself to death. 

‘Johnny please just take a shower and change then you can come straight back.’

‘I can’t leave him, don’t do this Doyoung, please you don’t understand.’

‘I do understand-‘

‘No, you don’t! You dance around Jaehyun but I doubt you could love anyone besides the sedatives,’ Johnny said spitefully.

His words hurt Doyoung because they were true and Doyoung hated that they were. There were the parts of him that he wanted to change but didn’t know how. It was a low blow on Johnny’s part but that just told Doyoung that the conversation was over, it had escalated too quickly and Johnny needed a break. 

‘We’re done here.’ Doyoung stood up, putting his chair back to its place along the wall.

‘Doyoung, I didn’t mean it like that – ‘Johnny began to back track, but what was done was done. 

‘You said what you said, please just go and have a shower.’

‘I’m sorry.’

****

‘What’s up my love?’ Yuta said leaning against the door to the Winwin’s room, freshly showered and clothed. 

‘Don’t call me that, please,’ Winwin answered pulling a sweatshirt over his head, he didn’t need this now. 

‘You were fine with it before, is something wrong?’ Yuta stepped into the room as Winwin turned to face him. The events at the black market had shaken him, they had shaken everyone but it wasn’t a world Winwin ever wanted to enter. He wasn’t a warrior he was a racer. The chance of death was significantly less in racing than fighting. 

‘Nothing – why don’t you just go back to your room?’ Winwin said walking over and sitting on his bed. The bed was pushed against the projection of the window, that was set to the bright lights of a city at night. The busyness and brightness always helped calm Winwin. 

‘Hey, it’s okay. What’s wrong?’ Yuta stood firm in the entrance of Winwin’s room clearly not ready to leave. 

‘I would just like sometime alone before I have to go to the cockpit.’

‘Let’s be alone together then!’

‘That’s not – Yuta please, I can’t do this anymore.’

‘Do what? Please your hurting and I care about you so I can’t just go.’ 

‘That’s my problem,’ Winwin refused to look at Yuta, ‘Yuta you’re my problem.’

Yuta deserved more than Winwin and Winwin didn’t know why the other was so transfixed on him. He had nothing to other, he was just a hired crew member – he wasn’t even destined to be part of the crew for much longer. 

Yuta said nothing, Winwin knew the other to be impulsive and have difficulty in controlling his anger. Winwin expected him to shout back or storm out. He did neither. Instead of looking up and confronting Yuta, Winwin kept his eyes down. The silence that followed felt long and painful, Yuta hadn’t left and Winwin hadn’t moved. They were both waiting for the other. 

‘Yuta -I’m sorry that was out of place.’ Winwin broke first, Yuta didn’t deserve that he had only tried to be nice to him since he joined and Winwin had only been an asshole back. It wasn’t fair. 

‘No – it was fair,’ Yuta sighed out, surprisingly calm.

‘Aren’t you angry?’

‘I was,’ Winwin heard a shuffling before his bed dipped to the side of him as Yuta joined him, ‘but that wouldn’t get me anywhere and I’m really trying to cope with my anger better.’

‘That’s good.’

‘Yeah, it is.’

‘Hmmm.’

‘Can you explain why I’m the problem – if I’ve done something wrong, I’d like to know.’

‘You sure?’

‘Positive.’ 

Winwin nervously rubbed his eyes, he owed Yuta the full truth. Stretching his arms out in front of him he slowly shifted so he could look at Yuta. His hair was growing out slightly and his natural hair was breaking through the blonde dye at the roots. His eyes were trained on Winwin and they we open, patiently waiting for him to speak. 

‘You’re too impulsive. You saw what happened to Taeil and how that affected Johnny and they’re actually careful people. You’re not. You just waltzed into it and could have gotten yourself hurt or killed but you don’t care. You just smile at me and call me stupid, teasing nicknames. Sure, they’re endearing to some degree but I hate that I like it. You swoop in and save me like some hero and make me like you but then what? Please stop it, before I really think you mean it.’ 

‘I do mean it,’ Yuta stared directly at Winwin, ‘I really do like you.’ 

_He doesn’t – he’s just saying that_. Winwin countered in his head. How could Yuta like someone like him – he didn’t even know his name! 

‘No, you don’t – you don’t even know anything about me.’

‘Then tell me.’ Yuta reached forward grabbing Winwin’s hands without breaking eye contact. It was scary how sincere he looked. Winwin shouldn’t give in but he wanted to, it wouldn’t hurt to humour this for a bit, right? He wouldn’t be completely deceiving Yuta, Winwin really did like him and the nicknames. 

‘Are you sure?’

‘I want to try if you’d allow me to. Let’s start as friends.’

Winwin shouldn’t agree to this, it only cause more pain in the future, ‘Fine, but you have to promise not to act impulsively and get yourself hurt on account of me.’

‘Of course, my love!’ Yuta gently squeezed his hands before quickly adding, ‘Are the nicknames still ok?’

‘The nicknames can stay – so you agree not to act impulsively?’

‘Yes, I agree – and I promise that I won’t get hurt as long as you don’t hurt me.’

‘I promise not to hurt you then,’ Winwin wasn’t lying, he had no plans to hurt Yuta. They intertwined their pinkies and promised like children promising to be friends for ever. It was pleasant, an innocent feeling. Being friends wouldn’t hurt as long as Winwin could control it and make sure that it didn’t evolve. It was cruel but Winwin knew that he already felt more than friendship for Yuta and from what Yuta said so did he. It wouldn’t work. It might hurt but being friends would be better for both of them in the future. 

‘So, as friends, why don’t we play 20 questions and learn more about each other?’ Yuta suggested as he fell back, comfortably on the bed. The reds and blues from the artificial window reflected off of his features and he closed his eyes.

Opting to stay upright, Winwin just hummed in agreement. He still had sometime until he needed to go and actively watch the ships course. 

‘I’ll start – what did you do before this all?’

‘Before the ship? I was a racer,’ an illegal racer to be precise, but that was semantics, ‘What about you?’

‘I was a lot less exciting. I was a flight attendant, I still am I guess,’ Winwin could imagine Yuta as a one, it was a strangely fitting job; Yuta adjusted his position to lie on his side so he was directly staring at Winwin, ‘What should I do with my hair?’

‘Your hair?’

‘Yes – should I dye it, cut it – ‘

‘No. Don’t cut it,’ Winwin paused, watching for Yuta’s reaction and after receiving a small nod he continued, ‘You could grow it out a bit – I think that look good.’ 

‘Hmm~ grow it out, I’ll see,’ Yuta mused, ‘Hey Winwin?’

‘Yes?’

‘No one in this crew knows your real name, not even Taeyong.’

‘So?’

‘As your newly appointed friend can I be the first? – and I promise not to tell anyone.’

‘It’s Winwin,’ Winwin lied, though if Yuta asked again, he’d tell him but then he’d regret it. 

‘No, it’s not. Winwin is clearly a racing name – please, what’s your real name,’ the way the artificial light hit the others features as he looked at Winwin made his heart beat ever so faster. It wouldn’t hurt for him to know, his name meant nothing for him – it was just a name. There was something exciting at having only Yuta know but it also meant that Winwin would have a harder time keeping them just as friends. 

He’d regret this choice in the future but that was the future. For once Winwin wouldn’t worry about the consequences, maybe he could try having something that was just his again. 

‘Sicheng.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's sticking round despite my updates not being regular! I'll do my best to get back on track! 
> 
> Thank you to all the comments they really do help for motivation and are so amazing to receive!! 
> 
> See you all soon!


	10. Fear and the past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... So this is a lot earlier than what I said... but I got really inspired after a comment yesterday so I wrote this without stopping. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter and the next one should be in a week (hopefully less).
> 
> Thank you!

‘Mark! Mark wait up,’ Haechan jogged up to Mark in the hall way. They still hadn’t properly spoken since Mark had brutally broken Haechan’s heart but Haechan was use to putting his feelings aside to focus on the important matters. Haechan hated Mark at the moment but annoyingly, fate still had them chained together. Until the whole deal with the Dreams was over, Haechan couldn’t leave Mark behind, and no matter how harsh Mark was towards him, Haechan hoped he felt the same way. 

‘You’re speaking to me again?’ Mark turned looking at Haechan with that same oblivious look that Haechan had once loved, and maybe still did. 

‘I can’t ignore you forever – we live in the same room.’

‘Fair but why now?’

‘Why not now?’ Haechan snapped back noticing the hurt in Marks eyes. 

‘What do you want then – I was just going to train,’ Mark continued walking down the hallway that was lit by a deep blue, reflecting the evening that it supposedly was. 

‘I need to talk to you,’ Haechan caught up to him, desperately wanting to pull on his sleeve and make him listen but they were no longer that close. 

‘What I said back then I’m not going to apologise or take it back – I meant what I said.’

‘Oh, get over yourself.’ 

Haechan stopped in front of Mark, causing the other to nearly crash into him forcing them both to stand uncomfortably close to each other. Though Haechan refused to step down, he might have been the one to have actively avoided Mark, but at least he was clear about it. Mark would have tried to still be friends with Haechan but in the awkward, uncomfortable way that was too cruel to handle. It would have made Haechan long for Mark even more.

‘Look Mark I need to speak to you but not here, not the training rooms or our room.’ 

‘That’s specific,’ Mark attempted to mutter as he moved back but Haechan heard, only raising his eyebrow in response, ‘What could possibly be that important?’

‘Dreams.’

‘Oh, shit. That’s not good,’ that one name managed to stress Mark out, his shoulders tensed and his lips pressed firmly together, ‘You walking off in the market…’

‘Yes – it was to do with them.’

Haechan had debated the whole time during Taeyong’s telling off about whether or not to tell Mark. No matter how much he wanted to hate Mark or protect him (he was still deciding between both) he had to tell him what had happened. Despite all the snooping and information gathering Haechan had done whilst in the Imperial he still didn’t have some of the information that Mark might have had. Haechan had used Marks leader status in Imperial to get into a lot of places, but only Mark had gone to the most important meetings. 

‘Fine let’s talk but why not our room?’

‘Follow me,’ Haechan walked straight, hearing Marks footsteps following him past the training room and deeper into the belly of the ship, ‘I have a feeling that there might be cameras or audio feeds in the rooms but I know a place that defiantly doesn’t.’

They walked down and into the ship until they were on the last level, near the engine and mechanic station where Johnny would usually reside. Though Haechan continued to walk all the way up to the bay doors before taking a sharp turn into the cargo crates. 

‘The loading docks? This is the place without cameras? Johnny’s station is literally over there,’ Mark looked tired as he waved his hand in the direction of the engine room.

‘Jesus – how come you still doubt me,’ Haechan frustratingly sighed at Mark, ‘We escaped Imperial together because of me – of course it’s not right here in front of the cameras.’

In Imperial, Haechan found it fun to show off and prove Mark wrong, he was competitive and Mark spurred that on. Mark despite being the ‘prodigy leader’ had never looked down on Haechan but treated him as an equal, something that very few people had done. 

Stepping onto one of the smaller crater boxes, he used it to climb up the small stack and then drop into a small clearing he had created, out of view from any cameras and off in the corner of the loading dock. Behind him, Mark was heavier footed in following but managed to drop down right beside him. 

‘You built your own cubby hole?’ was the first thing he stated as he looked around, ‘when did you have the time to and how did Johnny not know?’

‘Well Johnny was quite predictable and spends a lot of time in the infirmary with Taeil,’ Haechan explained as he sat down on one of the two crates he had put in for seating, motioning for Mark to do the same, ‘ and Doyoung lets me go early as I’m often ‘tired’ so I used it to explore the ship and then found this place and it was already mostly done, I just put the finishing touched on it.’

‘Wow that’s imp-‘Haechan frowned as Mark stopped his compliment half way and opted for, ‘ how do you get out? You can’t climb out.’

‘You’re right you can’t climb out that’s why there’s a slight tunnel that you can crawl through to leave – it’s right behind you,’ Haechan pointed.

‘So, the dreams?’

‘They were there.’

‘At the market?’

‘Yes.’

‘That’s impossible – I saw them on the news, Jeno was making a speech.’

‘Yeah, Jeno was making a speech at me and the news has pre-recorded sections.’

‘You spoke to him?!’ Mark practically shouted at Haechan as he shuffled his crate closer to lean in.

‘Don’t shout and yes I spoke to Jeno, Jaemin as well.’

‘Any of the others? Renjun?’

‘That’s the thing they were really weird.’

‘You mean besides the hunting us down that they announced on live t.v.’ Mark bitterly interjected. Haechan saw how affected Mark was by the news and wondered if he should continue but he had to. Even if the information was horrible, Mark needed to know, Haechan just hoped he could control himself. He didn’t want to risk Marks anger giving away his hiding spot.

‘I think Imperial has done something to them – Jeno’s captain now and still really close to Jaemin but no Renjun.’

‘What do you mean ‘no Renjun’,’ Mark had leaned closer, the panic in his eyes becoming more obvious. 

‘They didn’t even know who he was – Jeno didn’t even have that damn bracelet that they made such a deal about!’

‘You’re certain of this?’

‘Of course, I am! Something fucked up has happened.’ 

Haechan leaned back, looking at Mark for a reaction. Ever since he had started in Imperial Haechan had known that they weren’t the ‘good military protectors’ as they liked to tell everyone but Mark was different. Mark had idealised Imperial since he was young, that’s why he had such a drastic reaction to what Jisung and Chenle had found out. He was so brutally disillusioned and then nearly killed by his childhood heroes, and now he was hunted by his previous family. Haechan was impressed with how Mark hadn’t given up, how he never gave up, even now, after being defeated so much there still was a fire in his eyes. 

‘What do you think has happened?’ Mark was staring at Haechan, focusing solely on him, ‘You did the most digging on them, you have any idea?’

‘Brainwashed, I think. Or if that’s too much then threatened but when I asked Jeno he was completely blank. No recognition.’

‘Brainwashed,’ Mark slowly said, it was as if you could see the wheels turning in his head slowly, ‘that sounds plausible. Imperial are defiantly capable of that.’

‘And after we rebelled, they probably would be scared of anyone else rebelling.’

‘What did Chenle and Jisung find out?’

‘Before the whole ‘we destroyed an entire civilisation’?’

‘Yes, before that,’ Mark said through gritted teeth, it looked like he was still haunted by that. Haechan almost wanted to comfort him and tell him that they didn’t know for certain and that the youngest of the Dreams could have been wrong. Though he couldn’t say that, those would all be empty lies and both, he and Mark, already knew the truth. 

‘They found out that Imperial planned to create a super soldier – they didn’t know how though.’

‘Fuck. Super soldiers! Why the fuck would Imperial need super soldiers – they’re not conquers,’ Mark ran his hand through his dyed hair, the anger seeped through in body.

‘They saw all of our names on the list for this program,’ Haechan said quietly, he had promised Chenle and Jisung that he wouldn’t tell Mark but now he had. He felt strangely guilty about it, but the situation called for it.

‘Sorry?’

‘All of our names were listed for the program and it was the second attempt at such a program. Chenle overheard them, saying that after we had completed a short introduction after the test, we’d join the program.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me,’ Marks voice was low. 

‘You know now.’

‘What else did Chenle tell you?’

‘Not much else – something about using sedatives to ensure dependency. I don’t know.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Mark asked again, his head was lowered but Haechan could feel the anger coming off of him in waves. 

‘I’ve told you know so it doesn’t matter,’ Haechan felt intimidated but he wouldn’t back down, he never did. 

‘It matters to me.’

‘So, what. You know n-‘ 

Mark suddenly stood up, almost lunging towards Haechan. It caught him of guard and the momentum of him shifting backwards caught Haechan off-guard as he fell off of the crate. Now he felt vulnerable. He was stuck in an awkward position with his legs still on the crate but his neck craning upwards to watch Mark. Mark didn’t try and help him, he only stood, somewhat menacingly over Haechan. 

‘It matters to me, Donghyuck.’

‘It’s _Haechan_ and if you must know,’ instead of scrambling on the floor, Haechan stayed in his position, he wasn’t going to give into Mark and roll around on the dirty floor, ‘Chenle told me not to tell you because he was scared and he made me promise not to tell you. Hell, Jisung didn’t even want to tell either of us in the first place!’

‘What?’ Mark looked stunned. 

‘Your idealisation – no – your obsession with Imperial was scary. Back then you’d do anything they’d ask you to, they were scared of that part of you, we all were.’ 

Mark stepped back and sat down silently. He looked deep in thought or shocked – Haechan never new which one. His silence gave Haechan a chance to arrange himself on the floor and get up in a dignified manner. 

Once he was standing, Mark asked in a quiet voice, ‘Where you scared of me?’

‘Never.’ Haechan immediately answered but then in a smaller voice,’ Yes I was, I was scared all the time.’ Sitting down, Haechan pulled his crate closer to Mark

‘I was scared the whole time I was at Imperial. I acted tough all the time to hide the fact that I was scared. Then you came along and I had never been more insecure in my life. You were this perfect human,’ Haechan let out a small, sour laugh before continuing, ‘You were better at me in everything – well it seemed that way. I was constantly pushing myself to keep up with you – I wanted to hate everyone so much and I wanted to hate you so much but I couldn’t. I was terrified of growing close to you and the Dreams. It was horrible feeling all my control slip away because of you, because of how I felt for you.’ 

Mark had his head buried in his hands and after a long silence and a deep breath he spoke. 

‘I wish I was better for you, for the dreams. I’m so sorry, I’m far from the perfect human you though I was and I’m sorry for letting you down,’ he mumbled into his hands. 

‘Don’t start this again,’ Haechan harshly responded. He had just poured his heart out to Mark again and he had the nerve to give such a vague, self-serving answer. 

‘Start what again? I give up, nothing I’ve done has been right and I’ve tried. The only thing I can do well is let people down’ Mark looked up; his eyes were glistening but tears never stopped Haechan.   
‘This tragic hero act - it’s fucking annoying,’ Haechan attempted to keep his voice level but with each word it became more poisonous, ‘You self-pitying idiot. I pour my heart out to you and you think a sorry is going to fix it. Well guess what Mr. Leader, Mr. Mark Lee a sorry doesn’t make things magically better. SO fuck you. Try again. You don’t give up and you try again. The Dreams - we’ll find a way to make that right, even if I have to drag you and claw them out of that fucking hell hole. We’ll find the damn solution, so don’t you dare give up.’

‘Self-pitying?’ Mark repeated, staring wide eyed at Haechan’s outburst, before standing out and wiping his face with his hands, ‘Why are you always right.’ 

Mark did a full turn looking around the small, enclosed space leaving Haechan beyond confused. Why didn’t Mark have a respond or shout back. He was being way to calm. It was unnerving. 

Haechan followed suit and also stood up, ‘I’m right?’

‘Always,’ Mark said before standing up and placing both his hands on Haechan’s soldiers, ‘We have to help the dreams – they’re obviously in trouble, Donghyuck.’

‘Haechan.’ Haechan corrected, it felt weird for Mark to initiate this contact, in their short time together it was mostly Haechan who had initiated anything. Haechan only wished that Mark had been like this when they were actually together, it would had been nice. 

‘Hey, Don – Haechan about us…’

‘You said before there isn’t an ‘us’, we’re just friends,’ Haechan had finally accepted it, and sadly shrugged off Marks hands.

‘I know I said that but like this,’ Mark gestured between them, ‘this isn’t being friends. Can we try?’ 

‘Wow, copying Yuta now?’ Haechan chuckled.

‘You heard that too?’

‘We were in the same room Mark. Winwin’s room is right next to ours, we both heard Yuta and we would have heard more if you didn’t decide that you suddenly wanted to train!’ 

‘Fair point, but my question still stands.’

‘Fine, yes we can try,’ Haechan moved past him and walked towards the exit, ‘Only if you can keep up with me.’ 

In the midst of his distraction Haechan didn’t see it coming. There was a flash of silver and his body collided with Marks. Mark had pulled him in, spun him around so he was huddled into his body. Marks right hand was tightly grasping the blade of a knife as his blood dripped down his arm. In one swift motion, he freed the knife from both his and the assailant’s hand, tossing it to the ground. 

Pulling himself away from Mark, Haechan turned around to face the attacker. 

‘Renjun?!’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Thanks for reading! All the comments really help, shout out to Ami_Kuro_Kagami who really motivated me! And trust me that more dojae is coming very soon!! 
> 
> Please comment and share your thoughts!! Thank you for reading!!!


	11. Chase and red wine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long. 
> 
> Warning for some gruesome description. 
> 
> Please enjoy!

The euphoria that Mark had felt with his epiphany instantly faded as pain erupted in his hand. He saw the knife that Haechan didn’t, and his body instantly reacted. Grabbing the knife so that it didn’t hit Haechan, he felt his skin break around the blade as it sliced into his palm. Luckily the knife was dull and the person holding it wasn’t too strong so it didn’t slice his whole hand off. He managed to easily disarm the attacker. 

It was all muscle memory to him; he didn’t even look at the attacker just at Haechan who he held close to his chest with one hand. Mark had forgotten how breathtakingly beautiful Haechan was this close up. It’s something he hoped to never forget again but his staring was cut short as Haechan pushed away from him and turned towards the attacker. 

‘Renjun?!’ Haechan exclaimed. 

The name caught Mark off guard especially considering what they had just been talking about. Looking closer at the attacker it did look like Renjun but Mark couldn’t be too sure. He was badly bruised, with purple and yellow patches covering his body – it was as if he had been beaten senseless. He was skinner that he should be, with his bones sticking out of his body making it seem as if his skin had been stretched thinly over his body. In the moment Mark couldn’t decipher if it was actually Renjun or not; the bruises, dirt and dried blood joined with the shock of the moment halted Marks judgement. 

The three stared at each other for a long moment, none knowing what to do. 

‘Renjun?’ Haechan tried again with a softer tone. The attacker, ‘Renjun’s’ eyes almost softened as he glanced at Haechan, it was as if he recognised him. Some part of Mark wanted Renjun to be here as at least that meant he was safe but if that was truly him then there were other problems that they’d have to face. Though it didn’t last long, as Mark also caught Renjun’s attention shift to the knife on the floor.

Then he lunged for it. Mark pushed Haechan away as he threw himself at the knife. Mark hit the ground to get the knife and he did get it but he should have also collided with Renjun. Instead of both of their bodies colliding, Mark was greeted with a kick to the head, the momentum rolling him back. Renjun must have changed his mind at the last moment, choosing to attack Mark instead of going for the knife. 

‘Fuck!’ Haechan exclaimed. Looking to him, Mark could see that he pushed him into a stack of boxes most likely bruising him. Slowly sitting up, knife in hand Mark was dazed. 

‘Come on – we have to catch him before anyone else does, that way we control the situation,’ with no second thoughts Haechan dived through his exit tunnel, most likely following Renjun. 

Groaning Mark had no choice but to follow him, he had just stated that he would change after Haechan’s dramatic telling off. He had truly meant it, hoping that by saying it aloud he would also listen to it. Managing to recover his bearings, Mark dived in after Haechan, following him through the small tunnel of boxes. 

It was an elaborate path out – Haechan really didn’t want anyone to find out his hiding spot, it was just like back at the academy. Once Mark managed to fully get out, Haechan was waiting, silently surveying their surroundings. 

‘Why is he here?’ Mark asked, hoping that Haechan would have more insight than he did.

‘I have no fucking clue – is it even him?’

‘No idea – where did he go?’

‘He’s hiding and we need to find him – can I have the knife?’ Haechan asked. 

‘This is no time to be playing hide and seek,’ Mark said, not even thinking as he handed the knife over to Haechan. He would ask why later but Haechan probably had a better use for it than Mark did. 

‘I’m going right,’ Haechan pocketed the knife and began looking around. 

Muttering to himself Mark went left, eyes scanning the crates for Renjun. He had no idea why Renjun was here or why he was a stowaway. Did he try to run from Imperial too? It was too much of a coincident that he ended up on the same ship as them. Did Imperial plant him then, as a spy – if so, why was he so dirty and beaten up. This was certainly a dodgy situation but Mark couldn’t think of a certain answer to why Renjun was here. Maybe it was just a look alike? He hoped so. 

His searching lead him closer to the engine room. Johnny was probably still with Taeil, so luckily for them, there was very little chance of being discovered by him. 

Mark was getting towards the end of the stacked crates with no sign of Renjun. Until there was a loud crash, most likely falling crates that came from the opposite end. Following the crash was a shout – Haechan. Immediately turning, Mark ran towards the sound. 

Haechan was being pinned to the floor by ‘Renjun’, his hands around his neck. Not wasting another moment Mark threw himself into the mix, his body barrelling into Renjun, making the other realise his grip on Haechan. Now Mark was holding a struggling Renjun to the floor, as Haechan coughed, recovering behind him. 

Renjun nails clawed at Marks arm, leaving angry read lines as they teared the skin. Renjun hadn’t said anything yet, only heavily breathing and making horrible gargling sounds. Being so close to him, Mark could now confirm that it was Renjun. Though it was still hard to point out his exact features due to all the dirt and bruising.

Below him, Renjun stopped struggling as Haechan came up behind him, ‘That’s Renjun.’

‘It is.’

‘Well, what now?’

‘I don’t know,’ Mark sighed, something felt weird about this situation but he didn’t know what.

‘Think of something then! You’re the Leader!’ Haechan exclaimed. 

Turning his head, Mark rebutted, ‘I’m not the leader of anything, anymore.’

That was Marks mistake, one that he rarely made. He had turned his attention away from Renjun, providing him with the perfect opportunity to attack and he did. 

Renjun managed to knee Mark sharply in the stomach and when his arms had weakened along with his grip, allowing Renjun free one of his arms. With that arm he punched Mark in the face. Marks face snapped back, his arms automatically letting go on Renjun to cradle his face as blood trickled out of his nose. Lastly Renjun managed to plant his foot into Marks chest pushing him back into Haechan who made a surprised squawk sound as they collided. 

Mark felt like he had just been in a dogfight with a rabid mutt. As Mark lay still, on top of a dazed Haechan for a few seconds, attempting to recover slightly he was ready to give up. It would be easier to allow another crew member to catch Renjun and then explain the situation afterwards. Though if they did that then Mark would have less control on the situation and that was what he was afraid of. 

Quickly getting pushed off by Haechan, Mark managed to scramble to his knees getting ready to run after Renjun. Next to him Haechan did the same but as they both were about to rise and go after Renjun a voice stopped them. 

‘Mark? Haechan? What’s going on?’

Johnny stood in front of them, looking confused with an unconscious Renjun over his shoulder. Johnny wasn’t meant to be there. What was Mark meant say? 

‘Who’s this?’ Johnny tried again, sounding more forceful than usual. 

‘That’s Renjun-‘

‘Mark!’ Haechan exclaimed as Mark stood up.

‘And what is Renjun doing here?’

‘I don’t know, I thought he was a stowaway but then he attacked us.’ Mark admitted, not moving from his position. Would he finally have to admit his past, the one thing he had just resolved to move past or fix. 

‘Fine – come with me,’ Johnny turned, looking tired, his eyes were red and his hair slightly wet, ‘We’ll let Taeyong decide what to do.’

***

Everything had been a mess but not a nightmare. Taeyong mused gently over the headache that had been the last few hours. He sat relaxing in his office, nursing his pains with a bottle of red wine. He swirled the liquid in his wine glass before taking a sip and sighing. They had managed to do everything and get what was needed but in doing so their doctor had been badly injured – luckily not dead. No matter what they had to move on and secure this cargo after all their current benefactor had already paid half. 

Whilst his crew had been running around the black-market, Taeyong had been in a meeting. He was currently in agreement with intelligence traders, informers named WayV. They were able to tell Taeyong a lot, the information they had made them scarily powerful. They had connections everywhere, spanning across the whole of the galaxy, from inside Imperial to the farthest provinces. 

Taking another slow sip of his wine, he picked up a pen and wrote three names down on a sticky note. The first was the competition – MonstaX; from WayV’s source they were vicious bounty hunters that used any means possible to get to their goal. As bounty hunters they mostly hunted criminals and worked alongside Imperial, unlike Taeyong’s own crew who seemingly opposed Imperial at every turn. They would be hard to face head on but according to Kun, WayV’s leader, they were facing internal struggle, so as long as Taeyong was efficient and quick then the two crews shouldn’t meet before the job was done. 

Next were the self-proclaimed ‘sky pirates’ – Ateez. Kun had set up a meeting between Taeyong and them to secure the blueprints that lead to the cargo that he needed. The pirates wouldn’t be too hard to handle as they were noted to be easy going and eccentric, though they were giving the blueprint in exchange for a ‘favour’. That aspect worried Taeyong, as ‘favours’ were an abstract concept that could eventually lead to a disastrous situation but that’s apparently the only thing that those pirates traded in. 

The last name scrawled on the note was Dream. Kun didn’t seem to have a lot of information that he was willing to give away but he did tell Taeyong that his informer had gone silent and that ‘Dream’ was a group within Imperial. Incidentally that meant that the new comers had something to do with that group. It could mean that there was a spy on his ship, another headache Taeyong didn’t want to have. For now, he’d just keep a closer watch on the newer members. 

Refilling his glass, Taeyong felt calmer with each sip. The pit-stop at the market had been bad but Taeil was stable and everything was finally about to get back on track. Taeyong could relax, they just needed to meet Ateez, get the blueprints and then get the cargo back to the benefactor. Everything would be simple. 

‘Taeyong we have a problem.’

Johnny burst into his office and Taeyong had to take a deep breath to calm himself down. He didn’t want anymore problems. Johnny had an unconscious boy over his shoulders – another headache. Haechan and Mark were following behind him both looking like they were just in a brawl. 

‘Who’s that?’ Taeyang said placing his wine glass down on his desk as he stood up.

‘A stowaway I believe,’ Johnny answered as Taeyong slowly rolled the sleeves of his dress shirt up and walked towards them. 

‘That’s new,’ Taeyong replied, walking around his desk to lean on the front of it, arms crossed over his chest.

‘Mark and Haechan found him in the cargo bay,’ Johnny continued as Mark and Haechan looked at each other seemingly arguing through their eyes.

‘And do you two have anything to say about this?’ Taeyong prodded, they clearly knew a lot more about this situation than they wanted to reveal. 

‘He seems to be a runaway from Imperial – we don’t know anything else,’ Haechan quickly replied. Always the first to answer, the first to lie. Taeyong didn’t want liars in his crew but to a certain extent he understood Haechan and his fear. Though just because he understood didn’t mean he liked it, there were too many secrets on his ship now.

‘That’s all?’ Taeyong raised his eyebrow at Mark, wanting him to speak, to tell him the truth but he didn’t.

‘That’s all we know until he wakes up,’ Johnny said, adjusting the boy on his shoulder.

‘Why would we need to wait? Throw him out and get Yuta and Jaehyun to do a sweep of the ship for bugs.’ 

Taeyong leant back to scoop up his glass and took another sip of the wine. He knew he was being harsh and cruel but if Mark and Haechan refused to speak then Taeyong would have to get creative. 

‘Out in to space?’ Mark quietly asked as he held what seemed to be a bleeding hand.

‘Of course, I can’t have a spy on my ship. Surely you agree that the best way to get rid of a problem is to kill it.’ Taeyong had tried to be a gentle and understanding leader but sometimes it was easier to be cruel, then he’d have less headaches and more wine left. 

‘He’s just a child, he needs medical help,’ Mark protested, stepping forward. Johnny stood stoically staring straight at Taeyong seeming to understand the situation. 

‘He’s not my problem and we’re not in the position to provide medical help.’

‘We don’t have to kill him!’

‘You don’t have to do anything.’

‘Please don’t kill him, I’ll do anything.’ Mark gave in very easily noted Taeyong. Taeyong didn’t want to kill the stowaway but taking in a boy of unknown origin would be tricky. Pursing his lips, Taeyong thought over the possibilities, he could always drop the stowaway off with Ateez and simply owe them two favours. The thought left a sour taste in his mouth, one favour was dangerous but two was deadly. 

‘Johnny take the boy to the medical area and have him treated by Yuta. Haechan go with Johnny and help Yuta out,’ Taeyong stood up and stretched his hands before continuing, ‘Tell Winwin to plot a course to the coordinates I’ve sent him. Haechan tell Doyoung to rest, as you two will go on a mission and I’ll brief you later, that should be all. Oh, Mark stay here, we need to talk.’ 

As soon as the instructions left Taeyong’s mouth, Johnny was out of the door dragging a disgruntled Haechan out of the office and shutting the door behind him. Mark stood awkwardly in the entrance as Taeyong gestured for him to come closer. Going over to a shelf, Taeyong took out a simple first aid kit. He had noticed that Marks hand was cut, most likely meaning that he had actually fought with the boy.   
‘Give me your hand and I’ll disinfect it,’ Taeyong said opening the kit, ‘and whilst we’re at it you can tell me about Donghyuck and Dream.’ 


	12. Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been awhile ….. Enjoy~

Johnny gently laid Renjun down on the bed opposite of Taeil’s unconscious body. Haechan had already gone to help Jaehyun and Yuta search for any bugs or signs that Renjun had tried to sabotage them. Though Johnny doubted that this half starved and badly beaten boy could have done anything to his ship. He was surprised that Haechan and Mark had failed to subdue him in the first place. There was a lot that he didn’t know about the ship and crew, there were too many secrets now. It was as if only he was honest. Yet it felt crushing, that no matter how open he was it didn’t prevent anything. All because of his decision to help Mark. Everything felt as if it was crumbling. 

Stretching his arms, he turned to face Taeil. The doctor was looking better, his bruises were lighter than a few days ago and Doyoung had taken him off the oxygen and general support. 

‘Admiring my work? Or are you just going to ridicule me again?’ Doyoung closed the book he was reading and stared at Johnny.

‘I’m sorry. I was tired and I wasn’t myself,’ Johnny inwardly cringed at how pathetic his apology sounded. 

‘I’ve stopped, you know.’

‘I know – I was just angry.’

‘I just wanted to get that through your head,’ standing, Doyoung walked up to the other side of Taeil, ‘He should be conscious soon, and for the record, it looked worse than what it was.’

‘I’m glad,’ Johnny gently stroked Taeil’s face, it was comforting to see the small rise and fall of his chest. 

‘Who’s this?’ Doyoung jerked his head towards Renjun. 

‘He’s Renjun,’ Johnny replied, refusing to take his gaze away from Taeil. 

Out of his peripheral vision he saw Doyoung walk around the bed going to check on Renjun. He heard the exasperated sigh of his friend and his shuffling as he most likely began to check the boy. 

‘Johnny – I know you want to focus on Taeil but please tell me what’s going on.’   
Johnny’s heart sank with the prospect of not having eyes on Taeil for even a second. Though logic dictated that nothing bad would happen to his other half. In theory he could leave him for hours and he’d still be fine, so a few minutes wouldn’t hurt that much. Was this how Taeil felt every time Johnny would bother him with a small cut or scrape?

Turning he saw Doyoung pulling out some dirty strings from the boy’s pocket, placing them on the metal tray, he sighed, ‘Why is he here?’

‘A stowaway – both Mark and Haechan seemed to know him. Captains currently getting all the information out of Mark.’

‘Finally,’ Doyoung reached into the boy’s other pocket, ‘So are we finally going to know everything?’

‘Yeah, seems that way.’ 

Johnny watched Doyoung pull out a piece of crumpled paper and place it next to the strings. 

‘Johnny, if I ask, will you tell me?’ Doyoung asked as he turned away to fill a bowl with water. 

‘I owe you that much, after all I honour that promise,’ Johnny didn’t care that he didn’t know everyone else’s secrets. He would always be honest until the day he died. Though it didn’t mean he’d go out of his way to reveal everything but if someone asked, he’d answer. 

‘They’re all from the imperial – like I was, right?’ Doyoung turned, placing the bowl down. 

‘I don’t know about Haechan but Mark definitely is. He ran from the imperial when they made him do something. Then Mark reached out to me and we’re family so I had to,’ Johnny had been so happy when Mark had contacted him, he didn’t want to regret it but a small part of him did. 

‘That’s vague but I’m assuming that Haechan was also from Imperial and given that they know this boy,’ Doyoung gestured at Renjun with a dry towel before plunging it into the water, ‘it means all three of them are Imperial. Given that we weren’t certain until now, that means they were probably in the academy.’ 

Doyoung began to wipe town Renjun with the towel, removing layers of dirt as he talked through the information. 

‘I thought you’d be angrier?’ Johnny stated. Out of everyone on the ship, Doyoung had a strong personalised hate towards Imperial. It was somewhat justified as Doyoung had been put through hell by them. Johnny could understand that hate, everyone on the ship could. They all had a deep hate of one group or another. If Johnny even heard the name of his old crew, he’d go ballistic but Doyoung was just simply talking it through. Maybe doing the med bay shift was that emotionally draining. 

‘I had a hunch from the start, besides from what I’ve learned Haechan hates Imperial. Logically they can’t be spies.’

‘Why not?’

‘I doubt that they’d bring so much attention to Imperial if they were spies. They’d probably make a story up, something like Jaehyun’s,’ Doyoung responded as he wrung the towel out and picked up a new one.

‘So, now Jaehyun’s now an Imperial spy,’ Johnny teased. 

‘Jaehyun?!’ Doyoung chuckled as he begun to clean Renjun face, ‘Out of everyone here, I am most certain that he’s not a spy.’

‘Wow even above Taeyong?’ a croaked voice interrupted them. 

Johnny froze, his eyes going wide as he saw Doyoung smile as he looked behind him. Turning round, Taeil was attempting to sit up and Johnny felt his heart bounce up in relief. Moving quickly, he embraced Taeil, wanting to absorb the other and never let him go. Johnny felt a wide smile spread on his face as his future became certain again. 

‘Johnny, I love you but it still all hurts,’ Taeil rasped making Johnny quickly move back and just stare at his partner.

‘Did you just wake up? How do you feel? Do remember me? Of course, you remember me - do you know who Doyoung is?’ Johnny rambled. He’d make sure that Taeil would never be in any other position to hurt himself again.

‘Johnny give Taeil some space and calm down,’ Doyoung scolded him, ‘I’ll try and ignore whatever you love birds do or say but please remember I am behind you, treating this boy.’

‘So Doyoung took my place?’ Taeil murmured, giving up trying to sit up, ‘I can see that.’

Kneeling next to the bed, Johnny took Taeil’s hand in his. Almost instantly crying with pure joy as Taeil gently squeezed his hand back. 

‘Nothing else much changed besides Doyoung becoming a reluctant doctor,’ Johnny answered, choosing to ignore Doyoung’s offended scoff in the background. 

‘Give me a few days and I’ll get back to it,’ Taeil’s voice cracked, his voice box slowly warming up. 

Johnny took the glass of water from the small metal trolly and helped Taeil sit up just enough to drink. 

‘You’ll rest first,’ Johnny placed the glass back, and returned to staring at Taeil.

‘So, tell me what happened when I was unconscious.’

‘Nothing. Doyoung is doing his best in your role and everyone is slightly more stressed,’ Johnny gently omitted the truth, once Taeil had rested more then he’d catch him up to speed.

‘Ahh so the stowaway on the other table is nothing or the fact that – ‘

‘- I didn’t want to stress you,’ Johnny interrupted Taeil, ‘Yes, Renjun is a stowaway with presumed roots in the Imperial academy but nothing to worry about.’

‘I won’t worry,’ Taeil assured Johnny, ‘I worry about you being able to properly look after yourself without me.’

‘He barely slept and we only just managed to get him to shower!’ Doyoung mischievously shouted from behind Johnny. 

‘Not helpful – and I’m fine now that you’re awake and alive.’

‘You need to take care of yourself. But … but thank you for being here and thank you for being mine,’ Taeil’s voice was quiet and unstable causing Johnny to lean in closer. 

‘Of course, I’d be here, I won’t ever leave your side. I promise,’ Johnny placed a gentle, chaste kiss on Taeil’s cheek before sitting back up and squeezing his hand. 

‘I know you will. I trust you but I …. I was so,’ Taeil’s voice faded out as he brought his free hand to his face and turned away from Johnny. 

‘Hey, hey it’s ok, you can tell me anything,’ Johnny gently said, taking Taeil’s hand off of covering his face. Holding both hands, he gently rubbed circles into them to calm Taeil down. 

‘I was just so afraid that … that,’ Taeil took a deep breath in before freeing both of his hands and sitting up to suddenly embrace Johnny. He tightly clung onto Johnny, burying his head into his neck. He stayed like that for a few minutes with Johnny gently rubbing his back whispering ‘it’s ok now’ and ‘we’re safe’ numerous times.

After the sniffling had died down Johnny asked, ‘What are you afraid of?’

‘I’m afraid that I wouldn't see you again.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh - I feel so guilty that it's been this long! I know this isn't the best chapter out there but I'm using it to get back into the swing of things and the next chapter will be a lot better (Doyoung and Jaehyun). So this will go back to weekly Wednesdays from now on! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy! (And thank you to those who came back!)


	13. A conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tada~ Weekly updates - lets keep to this consistency!! 
> 
> Warning : Drug reference.

After Doyoung had finished tending to the stowaway, he quickly excused himself from the room. It felt too awkward to be the third party when Johnny and Taeil were being so openly emotional together. Some part of him felt happy for the couple but a darker part of him rolled his eyes and scoffed. He had seen how distraught Johnny was over Taeil’s injury, how Johnny’s anger and worry turned could have turned him against the whole ship. It was dangerous. How could one give so much control to another person? 

Having stepped out of the med bay, Doyoung didn’t know what to do or where to go. The stowaway was treated and under the questionable gaze of Johnny and Taeil, which meant that Doyoung’s shift was up. He wanted to take a break. During tending to Renjun, Doyoung was too jittery, he was unfocused and his hands shook ever so slightly. Luckily no one else in the room noticed. Stretching his neck, he took a deep breath, attempting to calm his mind. For now, he’d head to his room and take some time for himself before joining Winwin and arriving at their destination.

The evening lights guided him to the sleeping quarters. In the past, the quarters always seemed too large. The three of them, excluding Johnny who, back then, lived in the engine room, barely filled the space. Each room could fit two comfortably, which was far removed from the days of the poor room management of Imperial. Yet coming from such an environment, the large space of the sleeping quarters always overwhelmed Doyoung. Yet now the ship was filling up with people and his complaints just switched sides. Now there were too many people and Doyoung needed that space. 

Though it wasn’t about the space or the people. They were just excuses. Poor ones.

He felt the slight tremors in his hands as his concentration wavered. He didn’t need to focus on the past. He didn’t even want to remember it. He just needed to get to his room. There he’d be fine. There he could slowly drift off and leave everything behind. 

Walking past Haechan’s and Marks room he heard a small metal clatter and a quiet ‘fuck’. It almost made Doyoung walk straight in. If he wasn’t so tired and in need, he would have gone in and talked to them, assuming Taeyong was done grilling Mark. But he could get information about Imperial out of them later, knowing if his brother was still an asshole wasn’t a priority now. 

Walking straight past them, he beelined to his room barely waiting for the door to open. Not bothering to take off his shoes or turn on the light Doyoung flopped face first onto his bed. After a few quiet moments he felt his need claw at his chest, he attempted convince himself that he didn’t need it but he did. Though his craving wasn’t too bad yet. He just wanted to relax into his bed and think that he could finally beat it. It was a nice daydream for him. 

His peace was quickly disturbed by a shuffling around his room. Someone was there. Was it another stowaway? Had Renjun brought a friend along? Was it a spy? Did Mark and Haechan know about this and betrayed them? He heard the person move around the room, the footsteps seemed to be getting closer and closer. Trying to draw as little attention as possible he moved his hand up and under his pillow. Gently feeling around, he found the cool metal of his knife and tightly wrapped his hand around it. 

Taking a deep breath in he heard the unknown assailant come closer. His footsteps felt eerily known to Doyoung but he didn’t know why. He heard them stop, then felt the bed sink as the intruder leant on the bed. Why was he coming so close? Doyoung gripped the knife, slowly counting in his head. They must be seeing if he was awake or not. After all, how did he miss a whole other person in his room. That was just embarrassing.

He felt a warm breath on his cheek. They were too close. Breathing out, in a yell he made his move. 

Wrenching the knife out, he used the assailants shock and unstable position to flip them over. Knife to their throat, pining them to his bed Doyoung felt some pride. He had proven to himself that he wasn’t a useless, drug dependant pilot but he could actually fight and out manoeuvre someone. 

Looking down at the figure, his tired eyes couldn’t make out many identifying features but he was hot. Well as hot as you could be if you were an intruder in his room. 

‘Hey, it’s just me.’

Doyoung inwardly groaned, he knew that voice too well. It was Jaehyun.

Keeping the knife at his throat, he leant closer to Jaehyun, attempting to push the light switch on the wall just above his bed. As he did that, he felt Jaehyun’s warm hands wrap around his one, most likely a safety measure so that Doyoung wouldn’t slice his neck open. Strangely enough his hands were comforting and welcoming considering the situation they were in. Managing to push the switch the lights buzzed to life above them, dousing the room in an orange hue. 

Still pining Jaehyun to the bed Doyoung got a closer look at the others face. Even Doyoung couldn’t deny that he was attractive. Shaking his head, he tried to chase out that thought from his head, he didn’t need to be thinking thoughts like that about another crew mate. 

‘Would you remove the knife?’ Jaehyun said, gently attempting to push Doyoung’s hand away, ‘Please?’

‘You’re really Jaehyun?’ Doyoung asked. It was always good to check the facts after all he didn’t know if someone had cloned Jaehyun or not.

‘Who else would I be? Yuta?’ Jaehyun smiled. His smile could convince Doyoung of anything. He lowered the knife to his side and sat up. 

‘Why?’ Doyoung loosely gestured to Jaehyun with a sigh.

‘Why I’m here?’

No, why are you so hot.

‘Yes, why are you here. You do know that this is my room? My private quarters, right?’ Doyoung was tired from his shift and just wanted to relax, he didn’t have time to play twenty questions with Jaehyun. 

‘I would love to explain myself,’ Jaehyun propped himself up on his elbows, looking directly at Doyoung with a cheeky glint in his eyes, ‘but despite this being a very comfortable position, I do know of better ones, if you want to try them with me?’

Doyoung hoped he looked graceful and calm as he got off of Jaehyun. He’d almost forgot the position they were in as he sat on top of Jaehyun on his bed. A wave of embarrassment washed over him as his heart pounded in his chest. He heard Jaehyun’s low chuckle as Doyoung straightened himself up and stood by the bed. 

‘Why are you here Jaehyun?’ Doyoung tried again with his back turned to Jaehyun, hopefully giving himself time to calm down. 

‘I was checking to see if there were any bugs in your room,’ Jaehyun said, accompanied by a slight rustling. 

‘Bugs? You think that scrawny stowaway would have made it all the way to our rooms without us noticing?’

‘Are you doubting me?’

‘No,’ Doyoung turned around to see Jaehyun sitting crossed legged on is bed gazing back at him, ‘well, not quite.’

‘Better safe than sorry and it was an order from Taeyong, if you really want to check me,’ Jaehyun answered pouting ever so slightly as his hand fiddled in his pocket. Was he moody because Doyoung was questioning him after he had come into Doyoung’s room uninvited?

‘Are you upset?’ Doyoung said sitting on the edge of his bed.

‘No, just disappointed.’ 

‘Disappointed?!’ Doyoung never would have imagined those words coming out of Jaehyun’s mouth. He sounded like one of the teachers at the academy that was slightly too invested in a problem student. 

‘No, not like that,’ Jaehyun waved his hands at Doyoung, ‘I just thought that we had come a bit further than this. Like we trusted each other.’ 

‘Oh.’ 

‘Yeah.’

Now Doyoung felt bad and like he should explain himself to Jaehyun. It felt odd having this guilt on his chest, he hadn’t done anything wrong. Was making and keeping friends this challenging? He couldn’t quite remember how he became friends with Johnny or Taeyong, it just happened. He got along with everyone else on the ship but Jaehyun. Something always felt off about him. Well it did. Now Jaehyun felt safer, like something Doyoung wanted. 

‘It’s not that I don’t trust you,’ Doyoung looked at Jaehyun, analysing his face, ‘I was just shocked that someone was in my room – I would have acted like that to anyone.’

‘You’d pin anyone to your bed?’ Doyoung watched the smile come back to Jaehyun’s face and immediately regretted his word choice. 

‘I’m not even going to respond to that,’ Doyoung groaned and quickly changed the subject, ‘You find anything?’

‘In your room? Only you, don’t worry,’ Jaehyun answered scooting closer, ‘Are you hiding something, besides that knife?’

‘Besides my past, I have nothing worth hiding,’ Doyoung chuckled as his mind flashed to the stash he kept in a fake draw in his desk. He gulped. He hoped Jaehyun hadn’t found it, in the moment Doyoung wanted to quickly check it and he had to stop his eyes from wandering over to it. He forced himself to solely focus on Jaehyun’s face, not that it was too hard to be drawn into such a face. Jaehyun’s face seemed to always be relaxed but his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. 

‘Is it time for one of those conversations?’ Jaehyun asked. 

‘A short one, as I’m tired but also last time I told you a lot about me but didn’t get much in return,’ Doyoung let the knife fall out of his hand and kicked it under his bed, ‘It’s time to pay up.’ 

‘There was a lot about me last time,’ Jaehyun protested.

‘That was all too vague – I gave you names.’

‘You did, didn’t you.’ 

Doyoung could almost swear that for the smallest millisecond that Jaehyun’s smile faltered and his eyes wavered. Though Doyoung was also very tired and his skin had begun to crawl with that very familiar craving. 

‘Why are your eyes so calculating?’ Doyoung asked bluntly. It had been something that he’d always been curious about. It was initially one of the reasons why he didn’t immediately trust Jaehyun but it was different now. Doyoung would try and trust Jaehyun with everything from now on. It was only fair as Jaehyun seemed to trust Doyoung. He’d proven himself to be dependable enough to listen to Doyoung complain about Imperial and his past. 

‘They are?’ Jaehyun briefly brought his hand up to cover his eyes, ‘Survival, I guess. I mean you get nowhere if you just take everything as is.’ 

‘Wisdom from your fighting days?’

‘Something like that. When your surrounded by enemies at all times you have to put a mask up. You have to figure out their intentions, their weaknesses, their plans, without them figuring yours out first.’ 

Jaehyun stared directly at Doyoung, his face no longer smiling, his expression finally matched the coldness in his eyes. Doyoung felt overwhelmed, intimidated. It was overpowering. Doyoung wanted the relaxed smile back. 

‘Was it that bad?’

‘It is.’

‘You still suffer from it?’ the present tense almost puzzled Doyoung, but Jaehyun must be referring to nightmares. Being forced to kill others, to kill friends just for the upper class’s entertainment. It was brutal yet his reality. It made Doyoung’s past and nightmares seem pathetic. Doyoung felt weak, he had to rely on drugs to escape his demons but Jaehyun faced it front on. To go through such a life just so his family had a chance, Jaehyun couldn’t be more admirable. 

‘I guess,’ Jaehyun’s face switched back as if he was catching himself, he smiled, ‘Woah, everything seems so serious now, lighten up.’

‘There’s a time to be serious,’ Doyoung stared at Jaehyun’s face, coldness back to being confined in the depths of his eyes. 

‘You’re right,’ Jaehyun sighed, ‘Killing to survive, no one should be forced through that.’

‘For family though – that’s a lot more noble than other reasons. Though why join the Cherrybomb?’ Jaehyun’s addition to the crew seemed poorly timed, they had just recruited Taeil and didn’t really need another person. 

‘That’s where it becomes ironic,’ Jaehyun’s eyes moved away from Doyoung’s as he showed his hands into his pockets, fiddling with something, ‘You kill the wrong person and the very thing you’re fighting for disappears.’

‘They killed your family because you won a fight, because you didn’t die?’ Doyoung felt disgusted. How could they punish someone for surviving and winning a game they created?

‘Something like that. Any way there was no point of staying so I ended up here – aren’t you glad?’ Jaehyun smiled, Doyoung didn’t know how he could smile after that. It felt so unreal. No one should ever have to go through that, Jaehyun was a lot stronger than what Doyoung initially thought.

‘I’m very thankful to have met you Jaehyun,’ Doyoung leant forward and rested his hand on Jaehyun’s knee, ‘Sorry for being somewhat standoffish in the past. It’s impressive how open you are and I think we all could learn from you.’ 

‘Wow your serious,’ Jaehyun remarked before holding Doyoung’s hand with his own, ‘I’m not that impressive. Being open like this just means I can lie and get away other stuff.’

Doyoung felt something went unsaid, but that was enough for tonight, he wouldn’t pry anymore. 

Taking his hand back he stared at Jaehyun. The other seemed like the perfect person. Doyoung would never date or be with another crew member but didn’t mean he couldn’t fantasize about it, fantasise about Jaehyun. Maybe in another life or the future once Doyoung had dealt with all his baggage then maybe then he’d have a chance. 

‘It makes sense now,’ Doyoung let his own face relax, with Jaehyun he’d try to be more open and relaxed.

‘What? Me?’

‘How you came to be an addition on this wonderful crew.’

‘Was me coming here really that weird for you?’

‘Hmmm~’ Doyoung hummed slightly, the serious mood lifting. 

‘I’m hurt,’ Jaehyun joked with a dramatic hand clutching his chest. 

‘Only you and Winwin applied to be part of the crew, everyone else came naturally.’ 

‘I’m guessing there are some stories there?’

‘Of course, though I’d suggest you go to Yuta for them – he’s the best at dramatizing them.’

‘I can imagine that – how did you come to be a part of this,’ Jaehyun waved his arms around, ‘I thought you’d be set at Imperial, seeing as your brother…’

‘That bastard would never help me climb ranks, I did that myself,’ Doyoung’s family had influence so it wasn’t hard but Doyoung still had pride. He’d like to think that he could climb the ranks even without his family. 

‘You get far?’

‘Far enough,’ the further Doyoung climbed the more he found out, the less he wanted to stay, ‘Don’t sour the mood, why are you so obsessed with Imperial in the first place?’

‘I wouldn’t say I was obsessed – just interested.’

‘A childhood dream of yours or something?’ Doyoung said whilst standing and gently rolling out his shoulders. 

‘Yeah something like that,’ he heard the dip in Jaehyun’s voice, ‘Imperials isn’t that bad.’

‘Trust me as someone who went through that hellhole, I don’t recommend it,’ Doyoung’s mood began to turn again, ‘You dodged a bullet by missing that dream out.’ 

Doyoung felt his control waver and the mention of Imperial just made his craving grow stronger. He didn’t want to remember any of it. He heard Jaehyun mutter some words that he couldn’t make out and heard the rustle of the sheets as Jaehyun stood next to him. 

‘You seem tired, I should go and continue to check the ship.’

‘Yeah, that’s probably for the best.’ 

Doyoung awkwardly stood as Jaehyun walked towards the door. If only the conversation hadn’t gone to the Imperial then maybe they could have spoken for longer. Deep down Doyoung knew that he was using Imperial as an excuse. His time with the Imperial had shaped him in ways he hated, yet he was also at fault for not being strong enough to outgrow it. Maybe he could learn from Jaehyun to open up and move on. It was his obsession, the morphine that was constantly on his mind that ended the conversation. It was his inability to master it that stopped him from reaching out. Doyoung felt like a helpless prisoner. 

‘Hey Jaehyun-’ Doyoung took a few step forwards as Jaehyun stopped right in front of the door, about to leave.

‘-Yes?’ Doyoung wanted to say that Jaehyun sounded hopeful, but he was too tired. Doyoung just hoped that Jaehyun didn’t sound cold. He never wanted to be in the presence of cold Jaehyun.

‘You were the first.’

‘The first?’

‘The first person that I’ve pinned to my bed. The first ever.’ Doyoung watched as Jaehyun’s shoulders bounced as he laughed. A comforting sound. It was real nothing like the smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

‘Well let’s do this again sometime soon, preferably without the knife.’ 

Doyoung was glad that Jaehyun didn’t turn around and just left, that way he didn’t see the stupid grin on Doyoung’s face. Speaking with Jaehyun made Doyoung go through a carnival of emotions but he was happy. It wasn’t so bad having someone else to depend on. Besides the two newbies, Doyoung felt like he knew the crew, he was good friends with the crew but there was still that invisible wall. Taeyong and Johnny had seen him through one of his darkest moments but being with Jaehyun was something else. He was almost inspired to face those moments instead of running. 

That being said, he could face those moments another day. He waited until he heard Jaehyun’s footsteps fade away before walking towards his desk. His desk felt off. He knew Jaehyun had probably gone through it, not that there was any key information lying about, but everything was put back nearly perfectly. Everything was nearly like how he left it, except some of the angles were off, his pens weren’t that straight, was his lamp always bent like that? 

Maybe he was tired. It wasn’t worth thinking about. Jaehyun was checking for bugs just as Taeyong had ordered. Opening his draw, Doyoung fumbled for the small switch on the underside of his desk. He found it and gently pressed it leading to the base of the draw to pop up. Not bothering to remove the contents, he simply shoved his hand into the secret compartment, only just holding the fake base up with his other. Knowing the contents by touch he easily grabbed a syringe and a small jar. 

He thought he had more. With only a jar or two left he needed to raid the infirmary more. He could have easily done it when he was on the infirmary shift but he felt too guilty. Doing that in front of Taeil, even if he was unconscious was too much even for Doyoung. Had he really been going through it so quickly, that was shocking. He thought that he had had less recently as he’d spent all his time in the infirmary. He was tired, maybe he just deluded himself into thinking that he had more when in reality he hadn’t.

Luckily Jaehyun hadn’t found the draw. Doyoung didn’t want to reveal that part of him too soon. That would be breaking too many promises. Both Johnny and Taeyong had trusted him not to start back up and they still believed him. It was his secret that could never get out to the rest of the crew. 

Walking back over to his bed, he propped himself up on his pillows and dimmed the lights. Just as he was getting ready to float off, he felt something dig into his lower back. With a slight struggle in manoeuvring himself to the side enough to grab the small annoyance. Bringing his hand with the small object to his face he noted that it was just a button. It probably fell off of Jaehyun when he was on Doyoung’s bed. It was funny, Doyoung didn’t think Jaehyun was wearing anything with buttons on but that was a moot point. For now, he was going to drift off and be at peace leaving everything behind. He could deal with mysteries, his crush and disappointments another time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! This chapter is longer than my other ones and I will admit that I got carried away when writing it. I had fun doing this, though I struggled with trying to hint at something~ 
> 
> Also thank you guys who left comments on the last chapter, it made me really happy that you came back to this!! Hope you guys stay safe and healthy in this time!! <3


	14. Memories and Drinks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a rainy day today ~ 
> 
> I rewrote this chapter around three times and now I just hope it's okay - enjoy!

  
The air was dry. It felt like it was burning through Donghyuck’s layers of clothing. Like Doyoung’s, his head was wrapped in a white scarf, only showing his eyes to onlookers protecting his skin from being assaulted by the dust and sun. To match in with the locals they wore light but fully covering tunics and loose trousers. Since they left the ship and the main port of the town, there was nothing but arid landscape and long dirt tracks to guide them. Donghyuck felt his backpack shift slightly, his sweat sliding down his neck and temple. It felt disgusting. He wasn’t in the mood to find pirates and talk to them or even go on a mission. 

The company wasn’t even the problem this time, he and Doyoung got along fine once they moved past the fact they were always lumped together. Though ever since they stepped off the ship and parted from Winwin, Doyoung seemed off. He wasn’t as focused as other times Donghyuck had been with him. They hadn’t even spoken despite the hour they spent dragging their feet along the dirt. Donghyuck wasn’t even sure that pirates were situated out this far – it was a long way from water. Did they really have what Taeyong needed? What even was this mission- with all the excitement of the Imperial raid, Taeil getting injured and Renjun being a stowaway, Donghyuck could hardly remember the mission. It was a cargo transport mission but did Taeyong ever expand on that? 

Mark had assured him that Renjun hadn’t awaken yet and probably wouldn’t for some time. What if, for some strange reason, Renjun knew about Donghyuck’s past. Imperial had promised to allow him to start over at the academy with a clean slate but now, seeing as he left, they didn’t have to keep that promise. He would take his dirty past to the grave. The Lee clan would remain dead. 

The large cut on his hand throbbed with pain. He was so shocked with the knife, that when he was examining it, it slipped leaving a jagged cut in his palm. How did Renjun get it? Or did Imperial have it all along? Getting the heirloom to the Lee family wasn’t an easy feat, yet there it was, carefully strapped to his back, wedged in between his back and backpack.

Tilting his head back, Donghyuck gazed in to the burning blue of the sky. Not a single cloud, but two large suns bearing down on this world. It almost reminded him of when he had first escaped from Imperial with Mark. Donghyuck had felt so relieved and happy to have escaped. To have been with Mark. Though ever since they had been picked up by Johnny and the Cherry Bomb crew everything had spiralled out of control. Maybe it was wrong of them to leave Imperial. Both him and Mark knew how brutal a military organisation could be and they both still signed up for it. Did they even deserve to leave, after all they had followed every instruction so that they could graduate? And they did earn their graduation. 

Closing his eyes, Donghyuck forced his mind to move on. He couldn’t regret it; they were right to leave. The only thing they did wrong was leaving the whole team behind. Who knew what punishment the Dreams had to endure because of their actions. 

‘I see a house in the distance,’ Doyoung said slowing his pace down, staring directly in front of them.

‘That looks like a shack – not a complex building with pirates in,’ Donghyuck retorted. 

‘Now, do you remember the brief?’

‘Why weren’t you there for it?’

‘I was asleep – do you remember?’

‘Didn’t you have your own catch up one Doyoung?’

‘Donghyuck!’ Doyoung raised his voice, standing still, ‘This is not the time to be a difficult little shit – do you remember?’

‘Let me think.’ 

**Earlier – before Doyoung, Donghyuck and Winwin departed for their mission. **

_‘Fuck!’ _

_The words left Donghyuck’s mouth as the dagger clattered to the floor in front of his bed. He watched in shock as droplets of blood crept out of the cut on his palm. Grabbing a random T-shirt on the floor he pressed it to his palm, hissing with pain as it covered the wound. _

_For a few seconds, Donghyuck didn’t know what to do besides glare at the dagger on the floor. The crest of the Lee family stared mockingly back. This was a direct message to him – from the clan or Imperial, Donghyuck didn’t know. Some small part of him hoped it wasn’t for him but who else on the ship knew how important that crest was. _

_Sighing, he bent over and picked it up. Mark had allowed him to take it and have it but would he question it. They had both agreed to restart as friends but did that mean that Donghyuck would have to answer all of his questions. If they were more, if Mark hadn’t so brutally pushed him back then maybe he would have told him everything by now. It was always a plan but Donghyuck wasn’t ready to bear his heart to someone who was just a friend. _

_Taking the dagger, he walked to the bathroom and placed it in the sink. Opening the mirror cabinet, he pulled out a small first aid kit and sat on the floor, his back leaning against the bathtub. According to Yuta, all the rooms just had showers before he demanded to have baths added so that they could all relax. Yuta apparently had many stories like that. Sometimes it felt as if he was the only happy person on the ship. _

_Throwing the shirt behind him, he began to disinfect the wound as he heard the rooms door open. _

_‘Donghyu- Haechan you in hear?’ Mark shouted. _

_‘Bathroom.’ He heard Mark walk into the bathroom, but kept his eyes on his hand as he began to bandage it. _

_‘You should go to the sick bay for that,’ Mark commented as he sat down and joined Donghyuck on the floor. _

_‘I don’t want to see too many unconscious people today.’_

_‘Taeil woke up.’_

_‘Oh.’_

_ Donghyuck felt bad for him and Johnny but was never too worried about Taeil. He hadn’t spent much time with the Doctor to get attached with him. According to Doyoung they were a gross couple that seemingly had too much time on their hands. Though Doyoung always exaggerated, his moods changing easily. He was either happy and unfocused or grumpy, as if he had ants crawling all over his skin. Donghyuck trusted him to a degree but never knew what to expect. _

_‘You finished checking for bugs?’ Mark asked as he took the packaging from the disinfectant and bandage package from Donghyuck and threw it away. _

_‘Didn’t even start.’_

_‘Why?’_

_‘Yuta said that there was no point, and he’d check security and monitor if any signals where coming out of the ship. So, I came here and Jaehyun said he’d go with Yuta. He should still be there if you wanted to find him.’ _

_Mark took the first aid from him and zipped up the bag before standing, forcing Donghyuck to crane his neck back to watch him. Mark shoved the bag back into the cabinet before closing it and returning his attention back to Donghyuck. He took a step closer, so that he was standing directly over him. Before, this would have made Donghyuck blush and become flustered but now it just made him sad. _

_‘This reminds me of – ‘Mark started, a slight smile on his face before Donghyuck interrupted both him and their gaze._

_‘- Don’t. We agreed that the past should stay there.’_

_‘Yeah, I guess we have to make more memories then,’ Mark remarked as he moved back, giving room for Donghyuck to stand, ‘Taeyong wants to brief you about a mission – well you, Doyoung and Winwin.’ _

_ Donghyuck could immediately tell that Mark wasn’t happy about that. His mouth was set in a micro pout and his eyes were now avoiding Donghyuck. He was probably jealous, knowing Mark he wanted to do the mission instead. He was never the type of leader to sit back and allow others to do stuff by themselves, he had to be involved. Donghyuck liked to do his part by himself and trust that others would do there’s. One of the first things Donghyuck told Mark was to ‘mind his own business’ and ‘I’ll do what I have to so don’t mess up or I’ll kill you.’ Thinking back on it, Mark took his threat way too casually. _

_‘In the normal place?’ he checked._

_‘Yep, I’ll just go and get Doyoung,’ Mark said as he walked away and out of the room, leaving Donghyuck and their conversation at an unsatisfying end. _

‘Hey Haechan, what’s the plan then?’ Doyoung asked, his eyes bearing into him. 

‘I don’t know,’ Donghyuck should had paid better attention to the brief, ‘We have to meet the pirates – Ateez and get… and get…’

‘So, we don’t know what we need to get and we can’t go back,’ Doyoung turned away, shaking his head.

‘They know though, so it shouldn’t be hard.’

‘I’m a fucking pilot not an errand boy,’ Doyoung mumbled as they continued on with more caution. 

Donghyuck couldn’t argue with that, it was strange of Taeyong to give a mission to them. Putting both the pilots on the ground and running risk of injury was dangerous. Did anyone else know how to expertly pilot the ship besides those two? 

Getting closer to the building. Donghyuck could see that it was a dingy building. It looked unstable as the whole building leant to the left. The wooden structure, didn’t look like it had anything important. It was close enough to the town to get supplies but far enough that getting those supplies would be an annoying journey. 

The cracks in the dirt road seemed to get bigger as they got closer to the building, until they eventually faded away to cement. A strange structural choice Donghyuck noted. Though it didn’t excuse the building from looking like a derelict mess. Stopping in front of the door Doyoung placed a hand on Donghyuck’s shoulder. The action was uncomfortable in the heat. 

‘Hey,’ Doyoung leaned in and whispered, ‘Sorry about earlier, I was just annoyed.’

‘Yeah, I get that,’ they all had their own shit to shoulder. 

‘We don’t know what kind of people, pirates, we’re dealing with. Be careful with what you give away and if anything goes south, it’s up to you to get back to the ship. Understand?’

Donghyuck nodded. The building in front of them now seemed daunting. Raising a hand to the door, he knocked. 

****

Winwin lifted the beer to his mouth and gulped it down as quickly as possible. It tasted and smelled like piss, yet the bar he sat in thrived with customers. They were either locals use to the taste or others making a pit stop who felt desperate enough to drink it. The sun unforgivingly bared down on the small town, Winwin hoped that the other two where managing it well. The heat made him jealous of everyone back on the ship. 

Hopefully this mission would go better than the last, Winwin didn’t need Yuta to heroically attempt to ‘rescue’ him again. After that whole fiasco, Taeyong had suggested that he begin to work out and spar with Jaehyun. It was the logical thing to do. Yet he hadn’t, fights weren’t his style and he had no idea why Taeyong kept forcing him on these missions. It was annoying. Though he had to comply, it was his job and Taeyong was his boss. The money was too good. 

He placed the empty beer glass down and stared out of the window. From his perch he could see both the docks and the way Doyoung and Haechan had gone. The bar, despite its bad drinks was in the perfect spot for Winwin, he could see almost everything without standing out too much. It was also in the shade. 

The background grumble of the bar was calming for him, it reminded him of the old days. Bars were the centre of everything. You’d meet sponsors there. You’d prepare for races then you’d celebrate the wins. It was a happy thought but he didn’t miss it; he was satisfied with his past and glad he could move on. 

He watched people mill around their daily routines. Despite the dry and hot atmosphere, the small town had character. From the old women haggling and selling their wears to the old men smoking cigars on doorsteps and porches. It was as if the old ways had been carefully protected here, far away from the fast, ever expanding technological world of other planets. It was a breath of fresh air. 

‘It was Winwin, wasn’t it?’ Winwin tilted his head and watched two men sit down next to him, he didn’t recognise them.

‘You have the wrong person.’ He went back to staring out of the window, it wasn’t surprising that a few people recognised him. They probably knew him from his old racing days.

‘I don’t think we do,’ another man sat down on the other side of Winwin, ‘We’re not looking for trouble though.’

‘Neither am I.’ 

The group was threatening with the way they surrounded him. It was somewhat a pain as Taeyong explicitly told him not to stand out. The three men looked younger than him, barely men. Their dark clothes stuck out among the browns and whites of the bar. 

‘How rude of us – we should introduce ourselves, shouldn’t we?’

‘You don’t have to.’ 

‘But we do~’ one of the shorter one quickly countered, his hair cut closely to his head and died a teal colour. He leant closer, ‘It seems that you’ve already met a few of us before that unfortunate raid. I’m Ten.’ 

‘Ten?’ the name didn’t ring any bells; it was just a number. 

‘This is Yangyang,’ the boy, looking to be around Haechan’s age offered up a small wave and a wink, ‘and that’s Hendery.’ Hendery gave a polite nod, turning around on his stool watching the rest of the bar.

‘And you already know my name, so how can I help you?’ Winwin pressed, as he turned his attention to the window, and the outside in front of him. Through the reflection he kept watching them, his hand curling around the beer glass. 

‘Help us! As if,’ the youngest of the three – Yangyang remarked before receiving a warning look from Ten. 

‘Thought it was a fun coincidence to run into you here, so we came to say hi as we waited,’ Ten casually said, ‘Glad to see you made it out of Imperials raid though where is the rest of your crew? You still with them?’

‘Yeah, I’m still with them, we’re just … refuelling.’

‘Shame~’ Ten almost whined. 

‘What crew are you three from, you seem to know a lot about me.’ 

‘He doesn’t know?’ Yangyang, seeming to be almost offended. 

‘Of course, he doesn’t! You two have no class,’ the third spoke, Hendery if Winwin remembered correctly, ‘We’re part of WayV, you met our leader and engineer at the black market a while back.’ 

‘Oh, yeah,’ was all that Winwin could think of saying. Hendery spoke with more dignity than the other two combined, he had the air of someone from high up in society. Despite the opposite vibes from the others they all seemed to meld well together. Nothing seemed fractured, unlike certain relations on the Cherrybomb. 

‘Anyway, we’d like to remind you that Kun means what he says,’ Ten took something out of his pocket then placed the flat, small object on the bar table, keeping it covered with his hand. 

‘I know, just-’Winwin stopped unable to think of the words. 

‘Bad timing?’ Yangyang chimed in, ‘I get that.’

‘Don’t feel rushed,’ Ten said as he took Winwin’s empty beer glass from him, and covered the object with it, ‘we’re in no rush – it’s all up to you.’

‘How long?’ Winwin had to carefully think about this. The Cherrybomb was a bit fractured but that would improve with time and he was just getting somewhere with Yuta. 

‘It doesn’t expire,’ Ten pushed the glass with the object under to Winwin, ‘If you feel like it just contact us.’

Before Winwin could answer he was interrupted as Yangyang let out a loud whistle as he looked out the window.

‘Ten this is our cue,’ Yangyang said standing up. 

‘We should go, I have a feeling that they’re here for your group’ Hendery stood and patted Winwin’s shoulder.

‘I wish we had longer but it seems the big guys are here. Though I have a feeling I’ll be seeing you soon!’ With that, Winwin watched the three walked towards the bar, nod at the owner before ducking through a door that read ‘Staff only.’ They had clearly been here more than once and knew their way around. 

Peering through the glass at the small object he could make out a vague V through the dirty bottom. Moving his glass to the side he picked up the business card. On the back it had silver lines forming a V against a sleek background and on its front, it just had a few silver numbers. Nothing else. Winwin really shouldn’t have this business card. It would only bring trouble. Yet he still pocketed it. 

Looking back out of the window, Winwin saw the ‘big guys’ and the reason for WayV’s hasty exit. Inwardly Winwin kicked himself, he shouldn’t have gotten distracted. The ‘big guys’ stood in the town; they seemed to be about seven of them. They all donned leather jackets with a decorative ‘X’ on the back. Two of them seemed unfairly buff as they talked to a few townsfolk casually flexing their muscles. They were a threat. Winwin saw a small projection screen coming up from the shortest members wrist. On it were several photos but Winwin couldn’t make out what they were. Though he could guess they were profiling the townsfolk, looking for someone. 

Carefully watching them, Winwin saw them split up and duck into shops and almost take control of the main road of the town. If Hendery was correct and they were after him and his crew then he had to tell Doyoung and Haechan. He saw two of the members begin to walk in the direction of where the others went to link up with Ateez. Winwin wouldn’t have time to warn them in person, and only hoped that they would be able to get back to the town quickly as it seemed the group were setting up blocks and checking everyone. Pulling his hat down and his scarf up, he began to move. For now, he needed to get into a better vantage point and gather more information. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey~ sorry for the wait this chapter was a pain to right ( well Heachans part ). Thank you for being patient and see you soon! Also I hope that everyone stays safe during these times but also educates themselves on BLM and where you can, help out. Stay safe <3


	15. Bargaining and Breathing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi - some one told me to update so I did. I'm really quite simple. Hope you enjoy!

‘They’re late’

‘Well they’re certainly not early’

‘Shut up – ask them for the code’

‘There was a code?’

‘Now there is – ask!’

‘If you’re so eager why don’t you?’

‘You’re already there – just ask!’

There was a shuffling behind the door, as the two supposed Ateez members bumbled about. They were whispering away their plans and secrets at audible levels to Donghyuck. It was almost laughable if it didn’t further illustrate their fickle nature. Blue lines pulsed up the metal door, surrounding a closed metal peep hole. A second after the pulsing died down the peep holes shutter scraped to one side before halting three quarters of the way. The small shack, besides its desolate appearance, buzzed with old mechanical and architectural brilliance.

Eyes quickly peered through and disappeared with a sigh and muttering. Replacing the eyes, long fingers poked out of the peephole and began pushing the shutter rest of the way before disappearing again. These pirates didn’t seem to care how outsiders viewed them. To Donghyuck that meant that they were either confident enough in their strength or stupid, yet entirely reminiscent of the Yuta’s characteristics.

A pair of eyes appeared at the peep hole, looking up and down at Doyoung and Donghyuck in a rather judge fashion for someone in a shack.

‘Code?’ a voice demanded.

Donghyuck had the mind to simply poke the pirate’s eyes out. Did they really believe that he hadn’t heard the whispering? He wanted to retort but Doyoung warned him to be careful with the details so it was best to leave the talking to him.

‘There’s a code now?’ Doyoung’s voice seemed to cut through the wind that had picked up around them.

‘Seems that way – I’m equally surprised as you are,’ the voice jested.

‘Can you let us in so we can get what was agreed on?’ Doyoung’s voice sounded tight. Donghyuck stepped back, away from the door allowing Doyoung to get closer. Doyoung seemed to already be annoyed that he was here, it wouldn’t be good if the pirates furthered annoyed him.

‘Then you have the code?’ the pirated inside didn’t seem to budge on their bullshit. Doyoung yanked the scarf that was covering his head to his neck and took a step closer to the peephole. He was so close that his eyes seemed to be centimetres away from the pirates.

‘I’ll ask nicely once more,’ Doyoung punched each word at the other person, his annoyance clearly seeping through his demeanour. It was a warning.

‘I’d love to. Really~ But orders are or- ‘

Doyoung cut the other off midway through his sentence. To Donghyuck it looked like he had just punched through the door, with how quick he was. In actuality Donghyuck knew that with precision, Doyoung had shoved his arm through the peep hole and was now holding the pirate by the neck.

‘Do I need to ask again?’ Doyoung curtly said.

‘Nope you’re in,’ the voice strained on the other side, before thudding slightly – regaining his balance after being released by Doyoung.

Donghyuck was glad that Taeyong had sent Doyoung now. It was clear despite his groaning, Doyoung was hugely capable at getting his way. The lines on the door pulsed blue as the shutter slid with some difficulty back over the peephole. The lights pulsed a single bright green before several clicks could be heard joined with the scrape of the door opening.

Doyoung pulled his scarf back onto his head and Donghyuck followed him into the small shack.

‘You just let him choke me! What kind of friend are you?’ a tall man in a long brown coat complained with his back to them.

‘The tired kind,’ a blue haired man replied perched on some craters before turning his attention to Doyoung and Donghyuck, ‘You guys the Cherrybomb?’

‘We are,’ Doyoung replied, ‘Let’s get this over with quickly.’

‘You’re Captain sure he wants to make this deal – no going back?’ the blue haired man checked, as he hopped off the craters, creating a small dust cloud as he landed.

‘That’s why we’re here,’ Donghyuck couldn’t help himself. Snarky replies were one of his many talents and he didn’t give anything important away besides attitude. It was a small, one room shack that had barely any room for the four of them. It was most likely an outpost, used by the pirates to make deals without giving up their main base’s location. It didn’t seem well maintained, with cracks and rust in the metal panelling. If Donghyuck squinted hard enough he could see small bugs and spiders crawling in and out of the gaps. There were crates stacked at one end of the small room, making it even more cramped. They looked like old weapons crates, with out of date and faded codes and numbers printed on the sides – most likely reused as furniture and a place to cram miscellaneous items.

As the blue one began to open and rummage around in the crates the taller one approached Donghyuck. ‘Wow so they were right,’ he muttered.

‘Excuse me?’ Donghyuck replied, ‘who were right and about what?’

‘About you – so the Cherrybomb really did get two newbies and a stowaway. What luck.’

‘How did you –‘Donghyuck started before Doyoung interjected.

‘Haechan enough. We don’t need to have idle chat, we just need the item,’ Doyoung took a step towards the taller men, in front of Donghyuck.

‘Haechan? Those weren’t the names we were given,’ the blue haired added, ‘What were they Mingi?’

‘Hmmmm was it Mark and Dong-‘

‘You’re wrong,’ Donghyuck quickly interjected, he knew they were trying to get a rise out of him and it was working. It was official, he hated pirates. He glanced at Doyoung, attempting to see if he wound intervene again or worse get the information out of the pirates.

‘Are we?’ the blue one chipped in as he pulled a small, palm sized box out of the crate before sliding the lid back on it.

‘I don’t think we were wrong, are we Hae~chan~?’ the taller one – Mingi further teased, not intimated by Doyoung who was in front of him.

‘Who spreads such rumours?’ Doyoung said in a low voice.

Mingi took a step back and chuckled slightly, ‘They’re rumours now? It was that V crew, the info ones with the snazzy branding.’

‘WayV? Ten were here? And what business do you have to get information about us from them?’ Doyoung fired his questions away, not even trying to subtly fish for the information. He suddenly looked very tired and worn out. 

Donghyuck had no idea who this other crew was, he knew that in Imperial they had informers. They were those who were always up to date with the gossip and seemed to know everything for the right price. Maybe this WayV was like them but instead of dealing with Cargo missions like the Cherrybomb they dealt with information instead. Hopefully Doyoung didn’t think they were that credible and would start questioning Donghyuck about his name.

‘So many questions?’ Mingi glanced back at his crewmate, ‘What do you think Jongho? We tell them?’

‘Why not? It doesn’t hurt us,’ Jongho shrugged as he replied.

‘You just missed them – they got back to town just as you left it,’ Mingi said before Jongho picked up his sentence.

‘And about the information, everyone is curious on your newbies from the Skz Crew to a key crew like Exo. It seems like you forgot about common curtesy.’

‘Common courtesy...’ Donghyuck repeated back. The Imperial didn’t go into depth about how mercenaries, pirated and other like them operated. In fact, he spent so much time sulking about Mark and the lost Dreams that he hadn’t actually asked anyone on the crew to tell him.

‘Part of the few rules in place that bind all of us crews,’ Jongho threw in.

‘Part of that is to inform everyone on new members – to stop any misunderstandings or any unfortunate accidents,’ Mingi smiled, gesturing at Donghyuck, ‘Of course they’re not formal, legal things, just bound by the honour of a crew’s word. It’s all about reputation and following them stops other crews from needing a reason to starting digging up dirt on you.’

‘That makes sense,’ Donghyuck nodded, of course there’s be informalities to keep everyone from fighting each other.

‘How did they know about us,’ Doyoung questioned, ‘we’re not the most interesting crew around.’

‘I’d beg to differ- your crew seems to be constantly growing. Others don’t know if you guys are a threat or not,’ Jongho walked up to Doyoung, the box in his hand, ‘Plus you have many interesting characters aboard.’

‘What else do you know?’ Doyoung seemed to be pushing for answers. Surely the pirates or this WayV crew didn’t know too much about him and Mark. Taeyong had thankfully not revealed any information to the rest of the crew but Donghyuck didn’t know how long that would last.

‘That’s about it for now but I’d suggest you learn more about your crewmates before any damage becomes irreversible,’ Mingi chimed in, standing besides Jongho, ‘Now let’s trade – we have our own schedule to keep.’

Donghyuck stared at the two pirates, Jongho had held the box out just in front of Doyoung as Mingi turned away. Mingi placed a hand to his ear and hunched over slightly as Doyoung swiped the box from Jongho.

‘Both the chip and our token is in the box; one the favour is completed we’ll retrieve or destroy it,’ Jongho said before raising his own hand to his ear. His face scrunched up slightly as he began to listen to what Donghyuck assumed was information being fed to him through an earpiece. After a few silent seconds he tapped a sequence out on what looked like a watch before a screen was projected from it. He quickly flicked through what seemed like a live feed from the town and the dirt road. To Donghyuck the images were grainy and backwards as sand and dust flew over the cameras. Focusing, Donghyuck could make out a few figure walking along the dirt road. Did the pirates have more business?

‘They here for you?’ Doyoung asked as Donghyuck felt his stomach drop. Suddenly he didn’t feel like it would be easy to get back to the ship.

‘Not us,’ Mingi said, facing them, ‘They’ve set blocks up in the town, I think they’re here for you.’

‘Seems that way,’ Jongho quickly said, ‘Either they want them or those blueprints.’

‘Or both.’

‘We should go, it’s not our trouble.’

‘Agreed.’

Jongho looked at them and sighed, ‘There are some tunnels you can use to get back to town. You seem to have another crew on your tail. That’s all we know. Leave quickly.’

‘Why?’ Doyoung questioned as the pirates began to move.

‘We’re pirates – it’s not so fun when people get what they want so easily. Plus, Hongjoong is serious about recalling that favour.’

With that Doyoung and Donghyuck were shoved outside the shack and lead behind the structure by Mingi as Jongho had turned his attention back to the cameras. The dust and sand were being thrown around as the wind picked up, making Donghyuck squint as it scratched his face. He pulled his scarf up, trying to block as much of it as he could. Mingi stopped behind the shack and squatted as he fiddled with his something on his watch. The pirates weren’t so much as helping them as they were messing with who ever wanted them and securing that favour. It was an odd thing to trade with but Donghyuck didn’t the time to question Taeyong’s trading techniques.

Donghyuck took a step forward to stand next to Doyoung and heard a familiar clang of his foot stepping on metal. He was no longer on the concreate that surrounded the desolate structure but standing on a metal circle in the ground. Mingi stood up and took a step back so he wasn’t on the metal, leaving just Doyoung and Donghyuck on it.

‘I’d say it was a pleasure meeting you two but I didn’t really like being choked – see you soon,’ Mingi gave a small wave as lines in the metal pulsed a bright green and before he knew it Donghyuck was falling with a small yell into darkness.

****

Mark sat in the med bay just staring at Renjun, watching the gentle rise and fall of his chest. At least he was alive. Though Mark had no idea what had happened to him. It looked like Imperial had starved, beaten and tortured him. He no longer was the happy kid that enjoyed subtle pitting Jeno and Jaemin against one another or the calming energy balancing out the team. When Mark and Donghyuck had fled Imperial, they should have tried harder to convince the rest of Dream. Jeno and Jaemin, from Donghyuck’s run in sounded fine – healthy at least but what had happened to the youngest two? 

Slumping into his seat, Mark sighed. Taeyong hadn’t given him a clear answer on what he’d do to Renjun once he woke up or if he’d help Mark get the Dreams back. Taeyong’s words rang around in his skull. _What if it’s their choice? You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be._ Though according to Donghyuck Jeno and Jaemin had no idea who Renjun was – something had to have happened. They wouldn’t have chosen to forget him. Now Donghyuck had been put on a mission, would he be safe? Mark knew he’d take any risk to get to his end goal. Maybe he should convince Taeyong to let him go and meet up with them. No. He needed to start trusting Donghyuck. He wasn’t in charge anymore.

He closed his eyes. If he hadn’t freaked out and let his morals rule his judgement, he could have stayed at Imperial. There he’d be with his friends. He’d have a set career and wouldn’t have to worry about the challenges of the future and unknown.

‘You okay?’ Mark felt a hand rest on his shoulder. Opening his eyes, he saw Jaehyun towering over him. He could trust Jaehyun, after all he was the only one on the ship that didn’t seem to have other, ulterior motives. Johnny was great and all but he’d lie to protect him and Mark needed some honesty.

‘Yeah just a lot is going on,’ Mark straightened up as Jaehyun dragged a chair next to him and sat down.

‘The stowaway was a surprise,’ Jaehyun agreed, ‘Is he alright?’

‘Honestly? Probably not and that might be my fault,’ Mark ran his hand through his hair. His hair was fried and crispy, still a wheat yellow.

‘Your fault? So, you know him?’

‘Something like that,’ Mark muttered back, letting his hand fall to his lap and his eyes focus on Renjun.

‘If you want to share, I’ll listen, no judgement.’

‘I use to be in the Imperial cadet,’ Mark answered honestly. Taeyong already knew and that meant that probably both Johnny and Yuta also knew. It wouldn’t hurt telling Jaehyun, everyone would probably know soon.

‘Oh.’

‘Yeah – I was the top cadet. Number _one_. Had a set future and everything,’ Mark knew he sounded bitter, it was hard to fully let go. He hated them but he hated himself and his choices more. He left what he was fighting to protect and now he felt aimless, lost.

‘Then why are you here? Wouldn’t it be better if you had stayed?’

‘That’s what I keep thinking but they lied to me. I never wanted to be a murder.’

‘A murder? Surely you’d be prepared to kill if you were trying to become a soldier?’

‘Bad guys - I’d be fine with that. Defending my nation, that’s what I wanted,’ Mark felt the desperation rise in his voice as his nails dug into his palms, ‘Killing innocents and massacring nations that’s not right. They lied to me, how can I trust a group that lies to me and manipulates me to reach their own goals.’

‘That’s … _a lot_,’ Jaehyun sounded unsure but Mark kept going.

‘They’d make me sacrifice my fam - my team just to get results, so by removing myself from the system I though it solved everything.’

‘That’s naïve of you. I guess they just continued with a replacement and that’s why your now on the wanted list,’ Jaehyun finished Marks sentence, it was nice to know that someone was trying to help Mark figure it out.

‘You give everything to them yet they’ll still strip you down. If only I had made my team leave with me, forced them to,’ Marks last words were raspy whispers as emotions began to fill him, guilt and regret building like bricks in his stomach.

‘So, it’s not about Imperial, it’s about your team. You feel guilty. Did you give them the choice to leave with you?’

Mark nodded; his shoulders hunched as he stared at his clenched fists. He had to push the emotion back down, stop it from leaking out through his voice. He couldn’t be that weak, he promised Donghyuck that he’d stop moping and face the future. But it wasn’t Donghyuck who gave the orders to kill and followed them so diligently.

‘Then it was their choice to stay – you can’t feel guilty about their choices. That’s not on you,’ Jaehyun leant over and began to gently rub Marks back,’ Fighting – being a soldier is hard. You have to make terrible choices just to survive, to reach the top of your game. You can’t control everything in the field, only yourself. It wasn’t your fault Mark, sometimes shit just happens. The thing you can do is move on and learn. Look to the future and try to protect what’s close to you.’

‘Thank you Jaehyun,’ Mark said patting his face and sitting back up, ‘It’s always comfortable speaking to you. It seems like you speak from experience.’

Jaehyun gave a tight-lipped smile before standing up and putting his chair back against the wall, ‘No problem, glad I could help.’

‘I think I’m going to stay and protect this – this new family – the Cherrybomb crew, like you,’ Mark took a deep breath, now he’d only kill and hurt to protect this family and he wouldn’t let anyone break or harm them not like before.

‘Like me?’ Jaehyun seemed to glance at Renjun, most likely curious about the stowaway, ‘I’m just a hypocrite.’

‘Hypocrite?’ Mark echoed, Jaehyun seemed like the perfect crewmate – trusted and loyal. His words confused Mark, Jaehyuns demeanour seemed to break for a second with uncertainty but he was probably tired.

‘Never mind,’ Jaehyun waved Mark off, ‘I’m just tired – anyway shouldn’t Taeil be here?’

‘Yeah, him and Johnny just went for a slow walk, I think.’

‘Sounds like them,’ Jaehyun looked Mark up and down, seemingly thinking about something. Mark stood up in response, he wasn’t quite confident yet but he’d earn his place on this crew.

‘Anything wrong?’ Mark checked.

‘Why don’t we dye your hair?’ Mark was taken aback with the randomness of the topic but it was a nice change of pace.

‘That be nice but what about Renjun- the stowaway?’ Mark gestured to Renjun sleeping form, someone should probably stay with him for when he wakes up. Though Mark might just spiral again if he stayed and pondered the past anymore.

‘Taeil and Johnny probably be back soon – plus I doubt he’ll wake up soon, he looks awful,’ Jaehyun turned and walked to the door, ‘Come on, we can get Yuta to give us some tips.’

Mark followed Jaehyun out of the sickbay. Changing his hair would be a step into healing and protecting his new family, plus maybe Donghyuck would appreciate the change. Maybe this time Mark could keep his word with himself and finally move on instead of just spiralling back into old habits. With Jaehyun and the rest of the crew, if Mark opened up and let them help then maybe he could proudly walk down this new road.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been long ~ and hopefully the next chapter won't be as long ~  
About the dyeing Marks hair - i'm really not sure if i already changed it or not? If i have, and you remember please tell me!! Honestly i couldn't put myself through scanning 36000 words to figure it out!!
> 
> Hope you guys are staying safe and sensible out there! Comment please as I love hearing from you and i'll most likely reply~


	16. Escape?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi..... this chapter is slightly longer than the others! Enjoy~
> 
> Warning : Some uncomfortable description about body and body image, and vague mention of past physical abuse.

The tunnels were significantly cooler than the surface but that didn’t make much of a difference. Doyoung felt the slap of the box against his leg with each step as he ran. He had only been running for roughly 30 minutes at a sprint but his lungs were burning with each desperate gasp of air. His legs felt shaky and the blood pounding in his ears made it seem as if someone was forcing their way into his body. He was a pilot; it was stupid of Taeyong to throw him out on this stupid mission. Maybe if Jaehyun was here then he could have carried Doyoung whilst running but for now he had to keep running.

Haechan seemed to be doing a better job than him. Occasionally he’d notice that he had pulled ahead of Doyoung and then give an ungrateful annoyed glance back before slowing down to keep Doyoung’s pace. The embarrassment of it, combined with Doyoung’s own growing desperation continued to push his body forward. 

‘Hae – chan,’ Doyoung gasped, trying to get enough air in his lungs to speak, ‘Run – ahead.’

‘Go ahead? Leave you here?’ the fluency of his reply annoyed Doyoung even more.

‘Scout – exit,’ Doyoung managed. If Haechan could get the exit to these tunnels ready then everything would go a lot better and there was no point to slowing him down. As much as Doyoung hated to admit it, he knew that Imperial was thorough with their training and Haechan could handle a simple scout. He had to.

‘You sure you’ll be ok?’ Doyoung didn’t need him to worry. It was annoying. Everything was annoying but he needed to calm down.

‘Go’ Doyoung half shouted causing Haechan to react immediately and pick up his pace. Their footsteps grew out of sync, causing the echoes to intensify then fade around Doyoung as Haechan moved away. Then it was just him, the dizzying pulsing blue lights and his loud panting to accompany him through the tunnel.

One step after the another, he had to keep pushing himself and keep to his original pace. His lungs burned with every breath and it seemed like he would never fill himself with enough oxygen. His head and heart hammered in an alternate rhythm, trying to coax him to stop. His current state wasn’t meant to cope with this. His fitness was one of the many things that he had let slip away from him. He had improved himself so much until imperial had pulled him back into old habits.

Once he got back to the ship, after this hell run, Doyoung would swear upon every being to get better. He’d train again, he’d get off the drugs and he’d allow himself to get closer to the crew. He’d do all of it, if he got back.

His feet felt like they wear going to rip after every step he took and his knees were about to crumble. Just a bit further. He could no longer hear the faint echo of Haechan’s running, so he was either so far ahead and the tunnel was longer than Doyoung though or that he had found the exit. Doyoung hoped it was the exit as he continued to push himself.

The lights pulsed with each step. His heart screamed for realise. His lungs burnt like a witch on trial. He might as well have been running on nails. Doyoung’s head was begging for him to stop.

He almost collapsed onto Haechan if it wasn’t for his dignity – well what was left of it at this point. He straightened his back and titled his head to face the roof of the tunnel in an attempt at trying to control his breathing. He made it. Not even looking at Haechan, he made a slight noise in his throat and waved a hand around. Hopefully translating to ‘report what you found’. 

‘So, this ladder leads up to a store room of what building I don’t know – but, the exit door itself wasn’t fully shut and there are some faint footprints in the dust right where you are,’ Haechan explained well. Whilst still breathing heavily, Doyoung managed to look down at the footprints.

‘That just means someone’s been here recently – it doesn’t matter to us,’ Doyoung said before eyeing the rusty ladder that was missing a rung or two, ‘should we go up?

‘After you,’ Haechan stepped to the side as Doyoung walked forward.

The ladder was sturdy enough for him to climb and only left his hands dirty and sore. He’d defiantly need a rest day after all this. His knees felt like they were creaking with each rung he climbed until he had to awkwardly balance at the top. Pushing against the exit hatch, he managed to use the last of his strength to open it before climbing through it and promptly sitting on the ground next to it, waiting for Haechan to make the climb.

‘Doyoung?’ Haechan asked as he lifted himself through the hatch and clicking it shut after him, ‘Are you okay?’

‘I’m just not use to running that much, let alone sprinting,’ Doyoung truthfully answered, the heat of the planet hit him once more. The heat built up on a familiar itch that had begun to crawl over his skin. He’d been ignoring his craving the whole mission and he’d promised himself that he’d give it up, especially after such a poor performance. Though Doyoung wasn’t built for such an agonising craving, no one was – who’d want to actively torture themselves?

‘You’re a pilot – it makes sense,’ Haechan stretched his arms before looking around, ‘what now?’

‘We find Winwin and bolt for the ship,’ Doyoung nodded, ‘Now let’s go.’

***

Winwin managed to roll another barrel into the alley way, outside the bar. Hopefully the others would be back and escape the men that went looking for them. His current plan was to create a big explosion once the others came back down the main road. It would create a distraction large enough to get them at least near their ship. Well that was the plan, if Doyoung and Haechan made it back.

That afternoon sun beat down on him as he placed the barrel next to the others. The other, assumed mercenaries, had started to wait around the centre of down instead of wandering around. The heat seemed to be getting to them as one of the taller ones put his hand on his hip and aggressively fanned himself. Three of them had already left to follow the main road the same way Doyoung and Haechan had gone but the other four stood at various points in the centre. They were waiting.

He had been waiting for 30 minutes and the two still hadn’t returned. Winwin just needed to save himself if they weren’t going to make it. If it was just him, then sneaking by wouldn’t be so tricky. There were still a few people milling about the centre, if he blended into a group then he could make it to the ship. It was frustrating how many missions and how much danger he was put into by Taeyong. Bedsides Yuta, he didn’t feel like he was treated correctly. Winwin was just meant to be a helping hand on the ship, not a field agent. The most he thought he’d be doing was driving the odd getaway. Maybe he should join the other group, they seemed like they’d treat him better. They seemed to know his value.

Glaring at the barrels, they had taken so much work but he had to leave them. Winwin couldn’t depend on the others just showing up to get back to the ship. Maybe they would stumble across the barrels of oil and then use them. Though for now Winwin had to look out for his own person. He’d miss Doyoung and Haechan was a good kid but he wouldn’t be able to mourn them if he was dead.

Securing his scarf around his head, so that it hid most of his features, he went and perched at the end of the alley. The next group that left the bar he’d tag along and, if he was lucky get past those men.

Slowly he crept closer to the entrance of the bar, making sure that the mercenaries didn’t see him. Hopefully the heat would keep them largely unfocused as the three mercenaries stood in the centre, fanning and talking among themselves. Now Winwin would just have to wait for some people to leave the bar, it shouldn’t take that long. He needed to avoid confrontation, one versus four wasn’t ideal. Four? There were four but only three stood in the centre.

Winwin felt the dread drop to his stomach as a chill ran down his back. He felt someone lean against the wall next to him, and he knew he was done for. He didn’t even need to check, the person next to him was defiantly a mercenary but maybe he hadn’t noticed Winwin. Carefully he began to edge away from the man, he could gain cover back in the bar. 

‘We’re not that dumb,’ one of the members said as their hands clenched Winwin’s shoulder, pulling him back, ‘You’re one of them – the Cherrybomb crew.’

Without losing a second and with a lot of force the mercenary began to drag Winwin into the centre, towards the others. The mans strength seemed to easily overpower him. He couldn’t fight back. He needed to find a more subtle way out of the situation without bringing much attention to him.

‘That’s him, isn’t it? Does he have it?’ a mercenary with bright white hair bounced up to them, almost shoving his face in Winwin’s.

‘If he is then let’s go – it’s getting too hot,’ the taller one – Hyungwon replied still fanning himself.

‘We can’t go yet – Jooheon, Shownu and Wonho haven’t gotten back yet,’ the smaller man chipped in, still staring at his screen, ‘Once they’re back with the others or the map then we can decide what to do – Changkyun put him into a hold and don’t let go.’

Changkyun seemed to easily turn Winwin around and place a knife at his throat. This time he didn’t resist and just let it happen to him. It was four against one and Winwin had a feeling that Yuta wouldn’t swoop in to save him – no matter how much he wanted him to. He had to wait for the right timing to go free. Winwin maneuverer one of his hands up to Changkyun’s grip, to resist the knife against his neck, placing it on top of his on the inside of the hold. Hopefully this would allow him to push the knife away when it was time but for now, he feigned weakness as he pretended to struggle, lightly pushing back against the knife.

Changkyun barely seemed to notice Winwin’s shift in position, as he only grunted and added more force to his hold. Winwin allowed his other hand to dangle near the man’s waist, where a gun was loosely placed in a holder on his belt. If he was quick enough, he could possibly grab the gun whilst pushing the man away. His chest tightened as he stared at the bar that he once sat on. Seconds in the hold felt like hours as the close contact made Winwin even more sweaty and uncomfortable. Now he wished he had waited for the others – maybe there was still hope that they could save him.

No sooner than he had thought about it, it seemed like his prayers had been answered. He had never been quite so relived before to see Haechan’s head pop around the alley that Winwin had been in. Haechan’s sneaking abilities should become finally useful in getting Winwin out of this mess. He had always been sneaking around the ship as if he was trying to catch the crew out on some big secret. Hopefully him and Doyoung had spotted the oil barrels and would use them efficiently.

Winwin carefully positioned his hand right above the other man’s gun, his fingers centimetres away from grabbing it. He could do it. He just needed the others to distract the mecenaries and give him an opening. The mercenaries seemed pretty relaxed, talking about arbitrary things that Winwin couldn’t focus on as his nerves built up. He shouldn’t have been in this situation, but he was and he needed out of it. 

Unfortunately, Haechan and Doyoung didn’t seem to be on the same page as him, maybe they had seen him reach for the gun and then proceeded to wildly overestimate his abilities. Instead of shooting at the mercenaries from afar or setting the explosion of to give Winwin a chance at escape, they left Winwin’s fate to his own hands. From the alley, with surprising strength they had rolled two barrels at the mercenary group who were still holding a knife to Winwin’s neck. One barrel stopped after rolling half way between the two whilst the other travelled further.

‘Wha-‘ Hyungwon began to walk closer to the barrel , ‘ What is this – a barrel?’

The other members seemed to be more cautious as at that moment Doyoung and Haechan began to sprint around the edge of the centre and alarm bells went off in Winwin’s head. He knew what he had to do.

‘It’s them – around the edge,’ the short one shouted as his members seemed to immediately grow alert, ‘ Hyungwon – bomb!’

Changkyun’s arms slacked around him. He was about to throw Winwin to the side to reach his crewmate. That was his opportunity. Winwin pushed the knife away from his neck in one clean movement whilst grabbing his gun and pulling it from its holster. Not even trying to aim Winwin started shooting in the general direction of the barrel, hoping to hit.

He felt the explosions before he saw it. Two consecutive explosions. The barrels lit up throwing Winwin backwards; the gun being flung from his loose grip. His left side felt like it was burning as his head pounded. Dust and smoke clawed at his eyes as he lay still on the ground. He wanted to get up but couldn’t. Half his body wasn’t responding and his ears were ringing. He couldn’t hear or see anything. Winwin was in a ringing darkness for what felt like an eternity.

Someone had started to pull him up and drag him. He didn’t know if it was Doyoung or Haechan but soon he felt himself being dragged from both sides. Winwin eventually regained the feelings in his legs, taking them back from the nerves as he stumbled alongside the other two. The ringing began to give way to other sounds. Guttural screams filled the air joined by loud gunshots. Did they takeout the mercenaries and this was just other crews? Where the guns being aimed at them?

Winwin regained his strength as his eyes watered and after a few hard blinks cleared his eyes enough to give him a blurry view. Doyoung and Haechan where either side of him beelining to their ship. In the open hanger of the ship was Taeyong and Mark leaning out with guns, firing off a few rounds, laying down cover. They were yelling something to the crew inside the ship as Winwin got closer. Managing to detach himself from the other two he sprinted the last small distance to the ship. To safety. The burning feeling on the left side of his body died down to simply feeling hot. With Doyoung and Haechan close behind him, Winwin launched himself onto the Cherrybomb. He landed sprawled out on the ground as the hanger door shut behind him.

Panting heavily, he felt the cool metal of the floor against his skin, cooling him down. The cold metal almost felt like it was sucking the heat from his skin. The ship shuddered beneath them as it took off, leaving Winwin to wonder who was flying them. Was there another pilot in the crew? Turning his head, he saw, with a clearer vision that Mark was helping Doyoung to stand whilst Haechan stood bent over, catching his breath. The silence of the ship allowed the ringing to come back full force in Winwin’s ears. He was close to the explosion but not close enough to be badly burnt unlike their attackers. Though it had been loud, hopefully not deafening.

Gently pushing himself up, it took a lot of effort to stand as his legs wobbled beneath him. Besides him Mark silently leant a hand to balance him. Letting go of Mark, he stretched out his back, his mind barely able to process what had just happened. His heart felt like it would pound its way out of his chest and he was left with a small desire to see Yuta. He took a few deep breaths, allowing the smoke to clear out from his lungs.

Winwin wiped the sweat and dirt out of his eyes as Haechan panted loudly next to him. His ears were still ringing loudly from the explosion dulling sounds around him. His clothes were ripped and singed but as far as he could tell none of them were badly injured. He had slight burns on his left arm and face but nothing obvious besides the angry red skin. He’d still have to put creams and cool patches on to make sure it fully healed without blistering but that was more of an annoyance than a necessity. Having managed to calm himself, he turned his attention to Taeyong, who had been silent the whole time.

Taeyong stood in front of them, one hand massaging his head as he holstered his gun. Taking his time, he looked over all three of them, giving a somewhat painful look to them. Sighing deeply, he straightened his shoulders.

‘Nothing is going right,’ Taeyong muttered before turning away, raising his wrist to his mouth he continued loudly, ‘Five minutes, meeting room. This is an emergency meeting; everyone will be there.’ The message bounced around the ship, repeating a few times as the lights faded into a strong red colour, showing how urgent the situation was.

‘Taeyong can I go – ‘Winwin began to ask.

‘There’s a first aid kit in the room,’ Taeyong interrupted, ‘Thankfully none of you look too hurt but we have a lot to discuss and come clean about – all of us.’

Taeyong left no room to argue. He was the boss and Winwin would have to do what he said. His burns weren’t bad and could wait, if they were bad, he would be sent to the med bay. Taeyong had made a sound judgement. Though despite Winwin’s efforts at convincing himself, was it really the best decision?

As he followed Taeyong with Doyoung and Haechan he couldn’t help a small voice of doubt from polluting his thoughts. What if he could be treated better? His hand reached into his pocket, feeling around the small piece of card. Would they have allowed him to be treated first? Maybe there was a better place for him.

***

Bright lights pierced through Renjun eyelids. Oranges and reds flicked through his vision before he finally opened his eyes. His body felt heavy – he couldn’t move just yet. He felt foreign to his own body, he felt weak. He stared up at the white, sterile ceiling willing his body to move. He had to escape – no he already did that, didn’t he? He had left the cells of Imperial far behind him, he needed to find Jeno and Jaemin. He needed to save them from completing the ‘treatment’, the same project that he was deemed unfit for and then thrown away.

He slowly raised his arm, feeling the muscles strain under such a simple action – and to think he used to be with the best. A dull banging sounded in is head, punctuating every thought but it was an improvement from the piercing feeling. There a few tubes coming from his arms, tightly secured with plasters and bandages. His arm was no longer covered in dirt, blood and muck, he had been scrubbed clean. It was a strange, serene feeling; after the first month he had come to terms with being dirty but lying in clean clothes that didn’t smell of piss was almost ridiculous yet calming. He finally felt human after a long time.

Letting out a dry, short laugh, Renjun didn’t think he’d have the energy to feel much but the swelling in his chest proved him wrong. His eyes and cheeks felt hot as the tears slowly crept down his face. He finally was hydrated enough to cry again. Lowering his arm, he brought both hands to cover his face. No one was in the room for him to hide from but he still hid. Maybe he was hiding from the gods and friends that had abandoned him over the torturous past few months. Whatever it was, he just felt happy he could cry. Despite the irony it meant that, however short, he had this quiet moment for himself.

Taking a deep breath, he wiped his tears – that moment was up. He needed to clear the haze in his head and properly organise his memories from the last few days. The fear and adrenaline from them had made everything blur together. He had, after taking a poorly placed dagger, managed to escape his imprisonment and boarded a leaving raid ship. It was almost too easy for him to escape but Renjun wouldn’t question his luck, he was out, that’s all that mattered. Logically speaking, Imperial wouldn’t have wanted him escaping due to all the knowledge he had, so it must have been luck. Yet it all still felt fake.

Pushing himself up on his shaky arms, he gasped, his whole body seemed to reject any sought of exertion. He didn’t have the time to allow his body to rest for much time. Renjun just needed to find Jeno and Jaemin, then get them to leave Imperial. After that he’d let his body rest. He began to hit, and message his legs, hoping to at least introduce them back into the idea of standing.

After he hid in the Imperials raid ship, he snuck out from it, after all the troops had left. Renjun was certain that Jeno and Jaemin were part of the troops. He had just needed to find them. The Raid was on a strange looking motel, and as he was hiding behind several parked ships trying to find his way in, to find his way to his friends, the ground shook and loud sounds filled the air. Renjun remembered that he ran, in response, into the closest ship. His flight instincts had kicked in – they weren’t wrong though. Being weak and starved, Renjun wouldn’t have been able to fight anyone off with just a dagger. He’d rather die, than allow Imperial to take him again.

He hadn’t managed to get off the ship; the crew had seemed to make a hasty take off, stranding him as a stowaway. After that, Renjun was drawing up blanks, he knew he was forgetting something important. Looking carefully around, the room had two beds – with him being on one. The other bed looked recently used, with crumpled sheeted and empty bandage packages. The crew must have found him and put him in their med bay. They didn’t kill him. Instead they decided to look after him, most likely out of pity due to his state. Either way he didn’t care.

He swung his legs over the side and almost recoiled at the sight of them. They were a terrible sight, even for him – and they were Renjun own legs. Despite being clean they seemed to be either bandaged and filled with plasters or bruised, there didn’t seem to be a clear patch of skin on them. His knees were knobbly and it was as if his bones were about to break out of the skin with the way the skin seemed to uncomfortably stretch over his knees. No wonder his body protested at every movement if all of it looked that way. That couldn’t stop him though, he had to keep moving towards his goal – the only thing he’d allow to stop him was death and even then, the grim reaper would have to fight him first.

He gently thumbed over the tubes and bandages on his arms. To have mobility, he’d have to take them off. Renjun unwound the bandages from his arm, allowing the tubes to dangle and sway slightly more. Next, he peeled the plaster back, only half way though. The tubes were attached to the needles in his arm with a small plastic connecter, if it were someone else, he’d make sure they’d disconnect the two before removing the needle but who knew how much time Renjun had. Grabbing the tubes, he turned his head to the other side and shut his eyes. The anticipation always hurt more than the action. He took a deep breath, then yanked the tubes and needles from his arm.

The pain was sharp, but tolerable. Renjun’s past few months would prove that there was always worst. He quickly stuck the plaster back over his arm and then pushed himself off the bed. He had hoped his legs were strong enough to support him but he felt pins and needles run up them. The muscles spasmed under him as he fell to the ground. He needed to get up.

Grasping the bed behind him, he used it to help lift himself up. Once he was in a standing position, he gently adjusted his weight. Slowly transferring it from his arms to his legs. Letting go of the bed, he gentle swayed before stabilising. Once he got use to the dull pain, then he could walk then eventually work up to running. Taking another deep breath, he tried taking a step forward but it seemed like everything was working against him.

The ship had suddenly lurched, causing Renjun to almost go crashing back to the ground. The lights flickered above him as he held on tightly to the unmoving bed. The beds had either been screwed down or had some device that stopped it from rolling about the room. A loud metal tray hit the floor by his feet, coming from the other side of the bed and scattering its contents. The ship managed to stabilise its self quite quickly but despite it Renjun kept a firm grip on the bed for a few seconds longer, just so nothing else would throw him off his feet.

As he held on, he looked at what had scattered on the floor. It just seemed to be clean bandages and a pair of scissors along with a smashed bottle of strongly smelling solution. Broken bottles and bare feet weren’t a good combination. Stooping down, with one hand still holding the bed he picked up the bandages. Shaking them, he saw some small glass fragments drop out of them before he dropped them. He would have wrapped them around his feet for some protection but wrapping his feet with glass and bandages wouldn’t make any difference to just having nothing protecting them.

A loud voice nearly made him loose his balance again as it boomed out of the rooms speakers, ‘Five minutes meeting room. This is an emergency meeting; everyone will be there.’

The room then plunged into a red as if it was a sign of danger, warning Renjun of the crew. It was almost as if the ship was in hell as the red reflected of the scissors in front of him. No matter what, he had to keep moving. He had learnt the hard way that there was no point in being cautious or waiting, that only had let things get away from him.

Taking the scissors, he stood up, it was time to find the crew. He had run into some before, hadn’t he? A big guy……..and _Mark? Donghyuck?_

The events of his ‘fight’ with them instantly resurfaced as if they were hitting him for forgetting. How could have Renjun forgotten, those two traitors were here. His jaw set in his face as he clenched his teeth, the anger bubbling up. They ruined him. They destroyed his happiness with Jeno and Jaemin. His grip tightened around the scissors and he beelined to the exit of the room. He no longer cared about the glass fragments that stabbed his feet. He’d been through worse. His anger swirled like a tempest within him, at blocking out the pain and centring him. Renjun had only one thing on his mind as he marched out into the hallway and that was to find his way the meeting room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer than I liked but I hoped you like it!  
I've done my best to proof read it but there might still be a few errors!!
> 
> Please comment and tell me your thoughts!

**Author's Note:**

> You made it! Yay!  
Please comment as that'll make me happy and this fic better!!
> 
> Just a quick disclaimer - this doesn't reflect on real life! (duh) 
> 
> See you next week!


End file.
